Supplying Biomass to Power Plants
A Model of the Costs of Utilizing Agricultural Biomass in Cofired Power Plants
U.S. power plants seek to diversify their fuel sources. Biomass energy is a renewable resource, generally with lower emissions than fossil fuels, and has a large, diverse base. To make decisions about investing in a facility that utilizes biomass, prospective users need information about infrastructure, logistics, costs, and constraints for the full biomass life cycle. The model developed in this work is designed to estimate the cost and availability of biomass energy resources from U.S. agricultural lands from the perspective of an individual power plant. As an illustrative example, the model estimates the availability and cost of using switchgrass or corn stover to power a cofired power plant in Illinois and estimates the plant-gate cost of producing biomass fuel, the relative proportions of switchgrass and corn stover, the mix of different land types, and the total area contributing the supplied energy. It shows that small variations in crop yields can lead to substantial changes in the amount, type, and spatial distribution of land that would produce the lowest-cost biomass for an energy facility. Land and crop choices would be very sensitive to policies governing greenhouse-gas emissions and carbon pricing, and the model demonstrates important implications for total land area requirements for supplying biomass fuel.
Download eBook for Free
Full Document
| Format | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PDF file | 0.8 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience. |
Summary Only
| Format | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PDF file | 0.2 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience. |
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback, 74 Pages | $20.00 | $16.00 Special 20% Web Discount |  |
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 74
- List Price: $20.00
- Paperback Price: $16.00
- Paperback ISBN/EAN: 9780833052186
- Document Number: TR-876-DOE
- Year: 2011
- Series: Technical Reports
Contents
Chapter One
Introduction and Motivation
Chapter Two
Modeling Biomass Energy Supply from Agricultural Lands
Chapter Three
Biomass Supply Costs and Distributions of Land and Crops
Chapter Four
Implications for Potential Investors in Power Plants Using Biomass
Appendix A
Switchgrass and Corn-Stover Production Costs
Appendix B
Costs of Transporting and Storing Biomass
This report was sponsored by the United States Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory and was conducted in the Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation technical report series. RAND technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2013 RAND Corporation.