Economics of wood, natural gas, and coal-fired boilers under alternative land- and air-pollution standards: three Ohio cases

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:5658215

Gowen, M M

This study compares the discounted cash flows of wood (wastes, forest or plantation chips), natural gas, and coal boilers at varying air- and land-pollution compliance levels. Three boiler-size case studies, small (2.75 MMBtu/h), medium (40.1 MMBtu/h) and large (71.1 MMBtu/h), are developed and compared under two discounted-cash-flow analyses (financial and economic). The cash-flow analysis is based on the inclusion of minimal land- and air-pollution compliance costs (financial) versus stricter compliance costs resulting from newly proposed federal guidelines (economic). The economic analysis uses an optimization model to internalize sulfur and particulate emission shadow prices. Results suggest wood wastes are the only competitive wood-combustion feedstock. Wastes from wood-product industries are financially and economically competitive fuels, but can provide only a limited proportion, 3 to 5%, of Ohio's 1982 industrial coal and natural gas demand. Wood gasification still faces technological problems limiting its commercial feasibility. Forest chips may be an optimal fuel for medium-size combustion boilers only if historic coal prices return and stricter air-pollution standards are enforced. Otherwise, cleaned coal appears socially optimal over chips.

• OSTI ID: 5658215
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200108 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Fuels-- (1980-)
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
292000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Supply
Demand & Forecasting
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320301 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Energy Sources
BOILER FUELS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
MATERIALS
NATURAL GAS
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
REGULATIONS
SOLID WASTES
STANDARDS
WASTES
WOOD WASTES