Closing the Carbon Cycle in Plasma-Based CO2 Splitting – A Techno-Economic Perspective

Abstract

This techno-economic analysis examines the impact of CO₂ capture energy and capital costs on plasma-based power-to-liquid (PtL) systems, identifying strategies to minimize the net production costs (NPC) for synthetic fuels. Three future development scenarios were defined. One, focusing on high efficiencies, reaches NPC of 2.9 EUR L⁻¹ of marine diesel. The approach of prioritizing high CO₂ conversion results in costs of 3.7 EUR L⁻¹. A more balanced approach between efficiency and conversion achieves an NPC of 2.6 EUR L⁻¹. Further NPC reductions are possible by sourcing lower-cost renewable electricity, reducing the NPC further to a minimum of 1.6 EUR L⁻¹. These findings underscore that direct air capture (DAC) cost-efficiency and process integration improvements are essential for scalable, economically viable CO₂ utilization in PtL processes.