External Cost incurred and avoided in a Direct Air Capture Hydrogen Technology

Abstract

External cost is any consequence of an industrial or commercial activity which effects other party without the party being compensated for such activity, be it the producer or consumer and it is therefore not reflected in the market prices. These activities include physical damage to the natural, environment, impact on recreation, societal and health. External cost effects are not included in the market prices of the activities since the polluter does not bear the costs associated with them. Here we find that quantifying the damage of external cost is the significant factor of this research work. In this paper, we identified all significant external cost derived from Direct Air Capture via hydrogen technology through the use of Impact Pathway Analysis (IPA) methodology being established by the EU community external cost of electricity generation (externE). The source of all the external cost incurring cost incurring from the production of methanol (MeOH) and hydrogen are the electrolyser, methanol reactor, photovoltaic system (PV) and the Direct Air Capture Technology itself. Form the chosen methodology, we applied the dose or exposure response function (atmospheric model) to provide the impacts effects of external cost of air pollution. Moreover, we assumed the production of 50,000kg of methanol and hydrogen per year from this paper. We applied external cost rates to quantify the damages incurred. After applying these cost rates, the external cost incurred per 1kg of production from each of the component in this research can be identified as PV (€/kg 0.1457), DAC (€/kg 0.0048), Electrolyser (€/kg 0.1305) and Methanol reactor (€/kg 51.2859). Finally, to minimize this external cost, there is a need to recognize and prioritize all major health impacts and as well as all industries involving in such production must have a long-term consideration and must not avoid the careful management of external cost.