The economics of biomass and biomass-derived energy and fuels

Conference · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:115348

Bluhm, G C; Conway, R K; Roningen, V O ^[1]

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1. USDA, Washington, DC (United States); and others

Biomass crops (e.g. grasses, wood) could become important feedstocks for the production of power, liquid fuels, chemicals, and other industrial products. With successful research programs that boost biomass crop yields and develop competitive power and chemical conversion technologies, these crops might compete with fossil fuels for a broad range of uses. The development of a biomass industry could bring significant environmental benefits while providing new income opportunities for farmers and processing jobs in rural communities. Economic trends, technological developments, the policy environment, and demonstration efforts at the site-specific local level will determine whether the opportunities for a biomass industry are realized. The economic competitiveness of crops as inputs to energy and chemical production has improved, relative to fossil fuels. Projections of crop and energy prices suggest that these economic trends are likely to continue. many economic factors can influence the future of biomass crops, including changes in world energy prices, increased environmental costs associated with fossil fuel use, major advances in technology that reduce the cost of biomass production and processing, and the development of profitable product mixes from biomass processing. The potential of biomass as a fuel for electricity generation illustrates these factors. With current technology, biomass based-electricity generation is a niche market in situations where electricity is expensive and fuel is cheap or incurs a disposal cost, e.g. waste wood, sawdust, etc. Some utilities are now interested in co-firing wood with coal because of environmental reasons, provided wood fuel costs are low enough. If dedicated biomass production and power systems demonstrate themselves to be workable, a larger competitive biomass-based power industry could develop.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
• OSTI ID: 115348
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP--200-8098; CONF-9508104--; ON: DE95009230
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
BIOMASS PLANTATIONS
CROPS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
NET ENERGY
POWER GENERATION
REFUSE-FUELED POWER PLANTS