Title: Nth-plant scenario for forest resources and short rotation woody crops: Biorefineries and depots in the contiguous US

Abstract

Estimating the US potential of woody material is of vital importance to ensure cost-effective supply logistics and develop a sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts industry. We analyzed a mature conversion technology for woody resources for the contiguous US that takes advantage of economies of scale: the nth-plant. Here, we developed a database to quantify the total accessible woody biomass within a distributed network of preprocessing depots and biorefineries considering both quality specifications for conversion and a target cost to compete with fossil fuels. We considered two categories of woody biomass: 1) forest residues from trees, tops and limbs produced from conventional thinning and timber harvesting operations as well as non-timber tree removal; and 2) short rotation woody crops such as poplar, willow, pine, and eucalyptus. A mixed integer linear programming model was developed to analyze scenarios with woody feedstock blends at variable biomass ash contents and cost targets at the biorefinery. When considering a target cost of 85.51 dollars/dry ton (2016$) at the biorefinery, the maximum accessible biomass from forest residues in 2040 remained constant at 106 million dry tons regardless of ash targets. Including short rotation woody crops as part of the blend increased the total accessible biomass to 153more » and 195 million dry tons at ash targets of 1% and 1.75%, respectively. We concluded from our analysis that woody resources could address about 55% of EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) target of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel.« less

Authors:

Hossain, Tasmin ^[1]; Jones, Daniela S. ^[2]; Hartley, Damon S.  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Hartley, Damon S."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3115-8527"

Thompson, David N.  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Thompson, David N."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-9096-8642"

Langholtz, Matthew ^[4]; Davis, Maggie ^[4]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
2. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
3. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Publication Date:

Thu Sep 08 00:00:00 EDT 2022

Research Org.:

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

OSTI Identifier:

1962012

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1974331

Report Number(s):

INL/JOU-23-70982-Rev000
Journal ID: ISSN 0306-2619; TRN: US2313055

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC07-05ID14517; AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Applied Energy

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 325; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-2619

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

09 BIOMASS FUELS; forest residues; optimization; short rotation woody crops; biofuel; biorefineries