Electrocatalysis for Chemical and Fuel Production: Investigating Climate Change Mitigation Potential and Economic Feasibility

The manufacture of goods from oil, coal, or gas to everyday consumer
products comprises in more or less all cases at least one catalytic
step. Compared to conventional hydrothermal catalysis, electrocatalysis
possesses the advantage of mild operational conditions and high selectivity,
yet the potential energy savings and climate change mitigation have
rarely been assessed. This study conducted a life cycle assessment
(LCA) for the electrocatalytic oxidation of crude glycerol to produce
lactic acid, one of the most common platform chemicals. The LCA results
demonstrated a 31% reduction in global warming potential (GWP) compared
to the benchmark (bio- and chemocatalytic) processes. Additionally,
electrocatalysis yielded a synergetic potential to mitigate climate
change depending on the scenario. For example, electrocatalysis combined
with a low-carbon-intensity grid can reduce GWP by 57% if the process
yields lactic acid and lignocellulosic biofuel as compared to a conventional
fossil-based system with functionally equivalent products. This illustrates
the potential of electrocatalysis as an important contributor to climate
change mitigation across multiple industries. A technoeconomic analysis
(TEA) for electrocatalytic lactic acid production indicated considerable
challenges in economic feasibility due to the significant upfront
capital cost. This challenge could be largely addressed by enabling
dual redox processing to produce separate streams of renewable chemicals
and biofuels simultaneously.