Energyplexes for the 21st century: Coal gasification for co-producing hydrogen, electricity and liquid fuels

This paper illustrates the role that integrated energy systems, also known as ‘energyplexes’, could play in supplying energy demands in the long term. These systems could enable a multi-fuel, multi-product strategy with both economic and environmental benefits. They could increase the adaptability and robustness of energy-services companies in the marketplace, providing them with flexibility in meeting demands in different market segments while achieving lower production costs and, reducing the risks of reliance on a single feedstock. In addition, with the possibility of achieving high conversion efficiencies and low polluting emissions and facilitating carbon capture, they could deliver high-quality energy services in a cost-effective way while meeting stringent environmental requirements. Their potential is highlighted here using the case of coal-fired, synthesis-gas-based gasification systems that allow co-producing hydrogen, electricity and liquid fuels, i.e. Fischer–Tropsch liquids and methanol, and could be a key building block in a clean-coal technology strategy. Co-production, also known as poly-generation, strategies may contribute to improve the economics of the system and exploit potential synergies between the constituent processes. However, the technical feasibility and economic viability of poly-generation schemes have to be examined carefully on a case-by-case basis.