Regional Biomass Supply Research Articles

Regionalized Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Forest Biomass Use for Electricity Generation in the United States.

This study presents a cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis (LCA) of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the electricity generated from forest biomass in different regions of the United States (U.S.), taking into consideration regional variations in biomass availabilities and logistics. The regional biomass supply for a 20 MW bioelectricity facility is estimated using the Land Use and Resource Allocation (LURA) model. Results from LURA and data on regional forest management, harvesting, and processing are incorporated into the GHGs, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model for LCA. The results suggest that GHG emissions of mill residues-based pathways can be 15-52% lower than those of pulpwood-based pathways, with logging residues falling in between. Nonetheless, our analysis suggests that screening bioenergy projects on specific feedstock types alone is not sufficient because GHG emissions of a pulpwood-based pathway in one state can be lower than those of a mill residue-based pathway in another state. Furthermore, the available biomass supply often consists of several woody feedstocks, and its composition is region-dependent. Forest biomass-derived electricity is associated with 86-93% lower life-cycle GHG emissions than the emissions of the average grid electricity in the U.S. Key factors driving bioelectricity GHG emissions include electricity generation efficiency, transportation distance, and energy use for biomass harvesting and processing.

Ccs in the Pulp and Paper Industry – Implications on Regional Biomass Supply

The Swedish climate policy framework requires national GHG emissions to reach net zero by 2045 and become negative thereafter. Bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has been identified as a possible main contributor to reach these targets by providing negative emissions – both to offset residual emissions in “hard-to-abate” sectors and to achieve net negative emissions. The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of biomass in Sweden with many large point sources of biogenic CO2 emissions which could potentially be captured. This work investigates the biomass supply required for large scale implementation of BECCS in the pulp and paper industry. Regional biomass supply possibilities are evaluated by choosing four pulp and paper mills located in different parts of Sweden. The results show that regional biomass supply can limit the possibilities for BECCS implementation in regions with high competition for biomass. In regions with low competition and high availability of biomass regional biomass supply can potentially assist CCS implementation on biogenic sources. It is concluded that for a densely populated and industrialized region with high use of logging residues in the heating sector, in this work represented by southern Sweden where two of the studied mills are located, the possibility to increase regional supply of logging residues to fuel the capture process while maintaining mill production output, is limited due to competition for the same assortment of biomass from the energy sector (combined heat and power in district heating systems).

Integrated lignocellulosic value chains in a growing bioeconomy: Status quo and perspectives

AbstractLignocellulose is the most abundant biomass on Earth, with an estimated 181.5 billion tonnes produced annually. Of the 8.2 billion tonnes that are currently used, about 7 billion tonnes are produced from dedicated agricultural, grass and forest land and another 1.2 billion tonnes stem from agricultural residues. Economic and environmentally efficient pathways for production and utilization of lignocellulose for chemical products and energy are needed to expand the bioeconomy. This opinion paper arose from the research network “Lignocellulose as new resource platform for novel materials and products” funded by the German federal state of Baden‐Württemberg and summarizes original research presented in this special issue. It first discusses how the supply of lignocellulosic biomass can be organized sustainably and suggests that perennial biomass crops (PBC) are likely to play an important role in future regional biomass supply to European lignocellulosic biorefineries. Dedicated PBC production has the advantage of delivering biomass with reliable quantity and quality. The tailoring of PBC quality through crop breeding and management can support the integration of lignocellulosic value chains. Two biorefinery concepts using lignocellulosic biomass are then compared and discussed: the syngas biorefinery and the lignocellulosic biorefinery. Syngas biorefineries are less sensitive to biomass qualities and are technically relatively advanced, but require high investments and large‐scale facilities to be economically feasible. Lignocellulosic biorefineries require multiple processing steps to separate the recalcitrant lignin from cellulose and hemicellulose and convert the intermediates into valuable products. The refining processes for high‐quality lignin and hemicellulose fractions still need to be further developed. A concept of a modular lignocellulosic biorefinery is presented that could be flexibly adapted for a range of feedstock and products by combining appropriate technologies either at the same location or in a decentralized form.

Influences on farmer and rancher interest in supplying woody biomass for energy in the US Northern Great Plains

State and federal policy targets for renewable energy production in the US have prompted investigations into the feasibility of different biomass feedstock types for use in transportation fuels or electricity production. Woody biomass systems can be integrated strategically within agricultural systems for multifunctional benefits while building regional biomass supply capacity. In order to assess the potential for biomass-based bioenergy, it is essential to characterize the interest that potential suppliers have in such an endeavor. In the US Northern Great Plains region (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas), this begins with assessing relevant perceptions of farmers and ranchers. Results from a 2014 survey of farm and ranch operators managing agriculturally marginal farmland indicated that 61% of operators have some degree of interest in woody biomass production. An ordered probit regression was utilized to further investigate how farm system attributes, individual farmer/rancher characteristics, relevant attitudes, knowledge, and perceived constraints affect interest. This study highlights attributes of operators who are most likely to be early adopters of a woody biomass crop and has implications for the development of relevant policy initiatives and management practices.

Distance potential concept and its applications to the design of regional biomass supply chains and solving vehicle routing problems

This paper presents a new concept, distance potential, which is the sum of the distances from the source points to the demand point being considered (for supply chains), or the sum of the distances from the demand (customer) being considered to other demands and the depot (for vehicle routing problems). We also investigate the applications of the new concept to the design of regional biomass supply chains and solving vehicle routing problems. In designing a supply chain, the values of the distance potentials are used to determine the precedence order: the demand point with the largest distance potential value will be satisfied first. While satisfying a demand point, the source point with the shortest distance to the demand will be used first. In solving a vehicle routing problem, the new concept is used to identify the customer which should be included in the first routing to be considered. Then, the network can be designed starting from the customer identified, and based on a few heuristic rules proposed in this paper. The results obtained in this work are comparable to or even better than that obtained in the literature. It is shown that the method proposed is simple and of high computational efficiency.

Using a Crop Growth Model to Quantify Regional Biogas Potentials: an Example of the Model Region Biberach (South-West Germany)

Over the last decade, political framework conditions in the energy sector provoked a strong focus on biogas production in Germany. In this context, a sufficient and secure regional biomass supply is needed in order to run biogas plants economically. It is important to estimate which biomass amounts can be produced and are available for bioenergy production in a defined region. The present study focused on a model-based approach quantifying the biomass and, from this, the resulting biogas potential of the model region of Biberach (south-west Germany) using the process-oriented crop growth model DSSAT 4.0. Considering the regional soil and climate conditions of the model region, dry matter yields of maize, triticale, and a crop rotation system (CRS) of maize and triticale including different management systems (change in sowing and harvest date) were simulated. The results indicated an adequate model fit between simulated and measured yields. Dry matter yields of maize (14.7 t ha−1), triticale (12.7 t ha−1), and the CRS (18.1–19.2 t ha−1) differed significantly, indicating that the chosen CRS provided the highest dry matter yields. The biomass potential of all crops was simulated considering different bioenergy scenarios depending on the available agricultural land used for bioenergy. The highest biomass potential was provided by the management system consisting of maize and triticale sown on 1 May and 15 October, respectively. Finally, an additional energy potential of 45,000 kWel (bioenergy scenario 50/50 % of the agricultural land used for biogas production) and of 5,700 kWel (bioenergy scenario 25/25 % of the agricultural land used for biogas production) was determined for the county of Biberach by implementing a CRS, which consisted of maize and triticale. It could be concluded that an additional biomass potential for biogas production exists in the county. Suitable areas for the location of biogas plants could be identified based on the available biomass potential.

Regional energy autarky: Potentials, costs and consequences for an Austrian region

Local actors at community level often thrive for energy autarky to decrease the dependence on imported energy resources. We assess the potentials and trade-offs between benefits and costs of increasing levels of energy autarky for a small rural region of around 21,000 inhabitants in Austria. We use a novel modeling approach which couples a regional energy system model with a regional land use optimization model. We have collected and processed data on the spatial distribution of energy demand and potentials of biomass, photovoltaics and solar thermal resources. The impacts of increasing biomass production on the agricultural sector are assessed with a land-use optimization model that allows deriving regional biomass supply curves. An energy system model is subsequently applied to find the least cost solution for supplying the region with energy resources. Model results indicate that fossil fuel use for heating can be replaced at low costs by increasing forestry and agricultural biomass production. However, autarky in the electricity and the heating sector would significantly increase biomass production and require a full use of the potentials of photovoltaics on roof tops. Attaining energy autarky implies high costs to consumers and a decline in the local production of food and feed.

Total footprints-based multi-criteria optimisation of regional biomass energy supply chains

This paper presents a MCO (multi-criteria optimisation) of regional biomass supply chains for the conversion of biomass to energy through the simultaneous maximisation of economic performance and minimisation of the environmental and social FPs (footprints). The energy supply-chain model contains agricultural, pre-processing, processing, and distribution layers. An integrated model, previously developed by the authors, for regional biomass energy network optimisation is used as a basis, and now extended for simultaneous assessment of the supply-chain performance based on LCA (Life cycle assessment). Several total FPs are introduced for “cradle” to “grave” evaluation, which, besides direct, comprises also indirect effects caused by products’ substitutions. In the MCO approach, the annual profit is maximised against each FP generating different sets of Pareto optimal solutions, one for each FP. With this approach the aggregation of different environmental and/or social pressures is thus avoided. The results indicate that total FPs enable the obtaining of more realistic solutions, than in those cases when only direct FPs are considered. More profitable and less environmentally harmful solutions can be gained with significant reduction in total carbon and total energy FPs.

Design of regional and sustainable bio-based networks for electricity generation using a multi-objective MILP approach

Biomass energy systems can be employed to meet the requirements of distributed energy systems in rural as well as urban contexts, whether this is an electrification or a microgeneration project. This work is focused on a mathematical programming approach applied to bio-based supply chains that use locally available biomass at or near the point of use in order to produce electricity or other bioproduct. The problem of designing and planning a regional biomass supply chain is formulated as a MO-MILP (multi-objective mixed integer linear program), which takes into account three main objectives: economic, environmental and social criteria. The model supports decision-making about location and capacity of technologies, connectivity between the supply entities, biomass storage periods, matter transportation and biomass utilisation. The advantages of this approach are highlighted by solving a case study of a specific district in Ghana. The aim is to determine the most suitable biomass and electricity network among the different communities. The technology considered to transform the biomass into electricity is gasification combined with a gas engine.

Multi-farm economic analysis of perennial energy crops in Central Greece, taking into account the CAP reform

Abstract This study analyses farm level economic impacts of biomass production from perennial crops including Arundo donax L. (arundo), Miscanthus x giganteus (miscanthus), Panicum virgatum L. (switchgrass) and Cynara cardunculus L. (cardoon). Regional biomass supply curves are estimated with a dynamic, multi-farm, mathematical programming model. Micro-economic data for the model are generated from farm surveys covering 52 farms containing a total of 400 parcels, in Central Greece. The study also examines the potential effects of the Common Agricultural Policy reform in 2003 on regional biomass supply. Simulations show that the policy reform toward decoupled subsidies lowers the cost of biomass between 15 and 25 euro per tonne. Switchgrass appears to be the most attractive option, followed by cardoon and miscanthus. Due to high specific machinery cost, arundo is never preferred. Relative to the agricultural policy setting of Agenda 2000, the biomass potential increases more for farms of small economic size and farms with a higher share of cotton.

Minimising carbon footprint of regional biomass supply chains

A new method for regional energy targeting and supply chain synthesis is presented. A demand-driven approach is applied to assess the feasible ways for transferring energy from renewable sources to customers in a given region. The studied region is partitioned into a number of clusters by using the developed Regional Energy Clustering (REC) algorithm. The REC targets aim at minimising the system carbon footprint (CFP). The biomass energy supply and management are targeted using new graphical representations. Regional Energy Surplus–Deficit Curves (RESDC) visualises the formation and the sizes of introduced energy clusters. Regional Resource Management Composite Curve (RRMCC) an analogy of the Process Integration approach shows the energy imbalances helping in trading-off resources management. These graphical tools provide straightforward information of how to manage the surplus resources (biomass and land use) in a region.