High-Temperature Electrolysis Conversion Pathway

Learn about the economics of producing carbon monoxide and methane from carbon dioxide (CO₂) and electricity via high-temperature electrolysis.

For each product developed using this conversion pathway, visualizations show key cost and conversion metrics based on three different cases:

Current –published results in the open literature with electricity priced at $0.068/kilowatt-hours (kWh) and a CO₂ cost of $40/metric ton (MT)
Future – attainable process improvements with electricity priced at $0.03/kWh and a CO₂ cost of $20/MT
Theoretical – thermodynamic limitations with electricity priced at $0.02/kWh and a CO₂ cost of $0/MT.

Select a Product and Case

Carbon Monoxide

Current Case

Future Case

Theoretical Case

Methane

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is a common chemical precursor with a global production totaling ~150 million metric tons per year at an average market price of $0.20/kg ($0.17–$0.26 between 2014 and 2018).

The biggest cost contributors for producing carbon monoxide from carbon dioxide and electricity via high-temperature electrolysis include electricity feedstock cost and capital costs for the current case and electricity feedstock cost for the future case, and utilities and supplies for the theoretical case.

Major Cost Drivers

Single-pass CO₂ conversion
Price of available electricity ($/kWh)
CO₂ feedstock cost

Minimum Selling Prices ($2016/kg)

Current: $
Future: $
Theoretical: $

Technical Metrics for Cases

[spider chart]

Current = Green
Future = Blue
Theoretical = Edge

Sensitivity Analysis

Shows process parameter impact on minimum selling price ($/kg)

[tornado chart]

Market parameters = Orange · Technical parameters = Blue
Mid-line values represent state of technology parameters.

CAPEX and OPEX Contributions to SOT MSP

Pie Donut Tree

[pie chart]

MSP: $

Methane

As of 2018, the estimated global production of methane reached 250 million metric tons per year with applications in energy and as a hydrogen precursor, selling for an average $0.16/kg ($0.13–$0.23 between 2014 and 2018).

The biggest cost contributors for producing methane from carbon dioxide and electricity via high-temperature electrolysis include electricity feedstock cost and capital costs for the current case and electricity feedstock cost for the future and theoretical cases.

Major Cost Drivers

Price of available electricity ($/kWh)
Faradaic efficiency
Onstream factor

Minimum Selling Prices ($/kg)

Current: $
Future: $
Theoretical: $

Technical Metrics for Cases

[spider chart]

Current = Green
Future = Blue
Theoretical = Edge

Sensitivity Analysis

Shows process parameter impact on minimum selling price ($/kg)

[tornado chart]

Market parameters = Orange · Technical parameters = Blue
Mid-line values represent state of technology parameters.

CAPEX and OPEX Contributions to SOT MSP

Pie Donut Tree

[pie chart]

MSP: $

Glossary of Terms

Need a term defined? See the glossary of terms.

Cite the Data

If you use this data in a publication, please cite it accordingly:

Huang, Zhe, R. Gary Grim, Joshua A. Schaidle, and Ling Tao. 2021. “The Economic Outlook for Converting CO₂ and Electrons to Molecules.” Energy & Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ee03525d.