Comparative economic analysis of chemicals and synthetic fuels from biomass
Biomass offers a significant potential for reducing national dependence on imported fossil fuels through the conversion of a renewable energy source to useful liquid and gaseous fuels, electric power, process steam, and chemicals. Several previous studies have indicated that feasible national goals could be the production of about 5 quadrillion Btu (quads) of energy by the year 2000 and 10 quads of energy by the year 2020. The results of these studies indicate that these are realistic and achievable goals provided Federal funding levels for biomass development are increased and Federal incentives are successfully applied to increase biomass feedstock availability. The study summarized in this paper involved the identification of over 1,100 possible missions (specific conversion routes from biomass feedstock to useful fuel and chemical products to end-use markets) prior to the selection of 15 missions for detailed analysis. Based only on market penetration projections, processes that appear to offer minor future contributions include marine crops, catalytic liquefaction, and fermentation to produce ethanol. Missions that appear to have greater near-term commercialization potential include: (1) Gasification of wood and low moisture plants to produce LBG, IBG, SNG, and ammonia. (2) Pyrolysis of wood and low-moisture plants to produce SNG, fuel oil and char. (3) Combustion of wood and low-moisture terrestrial crops to produce IBG and SNG.
- Research Organization:
- SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025
- OSTI ID:
- 5321222
- Journal Information:
- ACS Symp. Ser.; (United States), Vol. 144; Conference: ACS/CSJ Chemical Congress, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2 Apr 1979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BIOMASS
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCKS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
COMBUSTION
DATA
ENERGY CONVERSION
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
FUELS
GASIFICATION
MARKETING RESEARCH
PLANTS
PYROLYSIS
USA
WOOD
BIOCONVERSION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONVERSION
DECOMPOSITION
DIGESTION
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDATION
PROCESSING
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
140504* - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)