Results of the paper "A minimal methanol backstop for high-electrification scenarios"

In this Zenodo repository, we store the solved PyPSA networks used in the analysis of the paper "A minimal methanol backstop for high-electrification scenarios" published in Joule (10.1016/j.joule.2026.102464). Additionally, we provide csv files for all scenarios containing the figures for the energy balances, installed capacities, CAPEX and OPEX.

Summary

Electrification of sectors such as land transport and building heating is a cost-effective pathway to deep decarbonization. However, some sectors still require energy-dense fuels — including aviation, shipping and backup power — or chemical feedstocks. While a ‘hydrogen economy’ is often proposed to fill these hard-to-electrify gaps, it faces challenges in transport, storage, and infrastructure coordination. We introduce a ‘minimal methanol backstop’ to supply residual demand in highly-electrified systems. As a liquid fuel, methanol is easy to store and transport, and avoids infrastructure lock-in. Produced from hydrogen and carbon monoxide, it can help integrate biogenic carbon from decentralized biomass wastes and residues. Using a European energy system model constrained to be carbon-neutral, we show that methanol-based systems increase total system costs by 2.4% relative to hydrogen-based systems, an increase that remains below 6.4% across sensitivities. We argue that this modest cost premium is justified by reduced infrastructure complexity.

Files

• compressed networks of all settings:
  • default setting with 200Mt/a sequestration limit and techno-economic assumptions for 2030
  • low biomass potentials
  • high biomass potentials
  • high biomass potential and inf. sequestration
  • no biomass backup
  • low electrification
  • todays transmission capacity
  • no power transmission
  • no CO$_2$ transport
  • 400 Mt/a & infinite sequestration limit
  • CO$_2$ reduction targets 90/95 % 
  • green imports from outside Europe
  • relocation of industry within Europe
  • techno-economic assumptions for 2050
• csvs of all settings

Usage

You can open the .nc files from the network_files.zip using the PyPSA python package (https://github.com/PyPSA/PyPSA).