Biogas-based hydrogen production and carbon dioxide removal: Techno-economic and climate impact assessment

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319926032635

Authors: Linus Engstam, Gülru Bulkan, Leandro Janke, Cecilia Sundberg, Åke Nordberg

18 July 2026

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.156625

Highlights

•Biogas-based hydrogen with carbon dioxide removal cost ranges from 4.5 to 18 € per kg H2.

•Net negative emissions between −6.2 and −13.3 kgCO2eq per kg H2 could be achieved.

•Solid carbon reduced CDR supply chain costs and emissions compared to CO2.

•Heat and carbon integration with the biogas plant can reduce hydrogen and CDR cost.

•Centralisation reduced cost despite requiring gas transport and lacking integration.

Abstract

Biohydrogen produced from biogas combined with carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can provide renewable energy whilst generating negative emissions. This study evaluates production costs and climate impacts of biogas-based hydrogen via steam methane reforming (SMR), electrified SMR (e-SMR), and plasma methane pyrolysis (PMP), together with CDR based on either CO2 or solid carbon, across three production scales. Hydrogen production costs including CDR range from 6.0-11.8, 4.5-8.6, and 7.3-17.9 € kgH2−1 for SMR, e-SMR, and PMP respectively, but can decrease through carbon credit revenue. Although biogas plant integration reduces costs in decentralised systems, large-scale centralised systems achieve the lowest overall costs. Solid carbon from PMP applied in agricultural soil lowers CDR cost compared to geological CO2 storage (1.3-12.1 and 203.0-299.0 € tCO2eq−1 stored, respectively), primarily by avoiding capture and shipping. All systems can achieve net negative emissions (−6.2 to −13.3 kgCO2eq kgH2−1) if low-carbon electricity is available.

Source: ScienceDirect