Economics of selected energy applications of peat in Panama and Costa Rica

Conference · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79476-6_28· OSTI ID:5955757

Thayer, G R; Ramirez E, O; Ramirez, A

Studies were performed to determine the economic competitiveness of peat in Costa Rica and Panama. The cases examined were (1) electrical production in Panama, and (2) industrial boilers and cement plants in Costa Rica. Based on estimates of peat mining costs and the end-use costs we calculated for each application, the price of coal and oil at which the levelized life cycle cost of energy using peat was the same as that when coal or oil was used. We found that a peat-fueled power plant in Panama would be economic if the price of fuel oil was above $0.10 per liter and the cost of coal was above $40.00 per metric ton delivered. In Costa Rica, peat was competitive with fuel oil for large boilers (34,000 kg of steam per hour) when the cost of oil was above $0.10 per liter. For smaller boilers (5,000 kg of steam per hour) peat was cheaper than fuel oil when oil was above $0.08 per liter. Peat would be competitive in a cement plant when fuel oil prices were above $0.075 per liter. 5 figs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5955757
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-89-1633; CONF-8903135-1; ON: DE89012613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
015000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
CENTRAL AMERICA
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONVERSION
COST
COSTA RICA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY CONVERSION
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
LATIN AMERICA
ORGANIC MATTER
PANAMA
PEAT
SOLID FUELS