Biomass Power Potential Energy and Climate MiniWorkshop November
Biomass Power Potential Energy and Climate Mini-Workshop November 3, 2008 Chuck Kutscher National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Biomass Feedstocks Wood chips Poplars Switch grass Municipal solid waste Corn Stover
U. S. Biomass Resources
Potential Dry Biomass Supply Estimates (2025)
U. S. Biomass Resource Assessment • Updated resource assessment - April 2005 • Jointly developed by U. S. DOE and USDA • Referred to as the “Billion Ton Study”
Biomass Cost Components • • Planting and management Harvesting and collection Transportation Total cost is $20 - $60/ton
Biopower status • World: 40 GW • U. S. 2007 capacity: 10. 5 GWe (all direct combustion) – – 5 GW Pulp and Paper 2 GW Dedicated Biomass 3 GW MSW and Landfill Gas 0. 5 GW Cofiring • 2004 Generation – 68. 5 TWh • Cost – 8 -10¢/k. Wh DOE Potential • Cost – 4 -6¢/k. Wh (integrated gasification combined cycle) • 2030 – 160 TWh (net electricity exported to grid from integrated 60 billion gal/yr biorefinery industry)
Options for Biomass Electricity Direct combustion Co-firing Gasification
Combustion 50 MW Mc. Neil Power Station Burlington, Vermont 74 MW Wheelabrator Shasta Plant Anderson, California
Gasification Systems Under Development Commercial Biomass-to-Liquids Plant, Choren Industries, Freiberg Germany, 2008: 200 mt/d biomass, 2010: 2, 000 mt/d biomass Foster Wheeler CFB Gasifier, Lahti Finland, 300 mt/d; 30, 000 hours of operation at >95% availability 300 ton/day gasifier Burlington Electric, VT Varnamo Sweden, 100 mt/day, 6 MWe + 9 MWth demo run for 5 years, being retrofitted for BTL
Small and medium size CHP is a good opportunity for biomass 5 MWe + District Heat Skive, Denmark 15 -100 k. We Credit: Community Power Corp Credit: Carbona Corp
Biomass Power Benefits • Reliable base load power • Shifts agricultural and municipal biomass emissions from methane to CO 2 • Resource is well dispersed, so plants can be located to minimize new transmission • Using woody biomass for electricity production has lower emissions than open burning • Addresses waste and fire management problems • Reduces new landfill capacity
Biomass Power Characteristics • Direct combustion boiler/steam turbine • Average size 20 MW, largest 75 MW; fuel transportation cost usually limits to 50 MW; gas/combined cycle might be 100 MW • 20% efficiency for direct combustion, 40% IGCC • 8 -12 cents per k. Wh • Barriers are producing, transporting, and preparing feedstock • Supplies dominated by low-cost residue streams • 50 -mile economic supply radius, 20 miles preferred
CO 2 LCA Results for One Hectare
Biomass Carbon Savings 1 Bain, et al. 2003 et al. 2007 2 Woods,
Greenhouse Gas Burden from Removal of 1 Million Dry Tons of Forest Biomass in California in 2000 Morris, Biomass Energy Production in California, NREL/SR-570 -28805, November 2000
(based on $33/ton CO 2)
ASES Study Assumptions • Based on WGA study of 18 western states, 170 million dry tons of biomass • Required cost of < 8¢/k. Wh • Most cost-effective units: – <15 MW: steam turbine or gasifier/ICE – >15 MW: IGCC • Units larger than 60 MW connected to high-voltage distribution • Extrapolated WGA results to DOE 1. 25 billion ton study, excluding energy crops and crop residues (used for biofuels)
ASES Study Biomass Power Savings • Wood residues and municipal discards • 45, 000 MW (after biofuels use) • 5 to 8¢/k. Wh 2030 Savings: 75 Mt. C/yr
WGA Biomass Supply Curve
2030 Biomass Power and Carbon Displacement Potentials Biomass used (Millions dry tons) Power (GW) Low Carbon (Mt. C/y) High Carbon (Mt. C/y) 334 (forest only) 29 37 59 515 (all forest and non-crop ag biomass, ASES) 45 57 92 1256 less 420 of crop residues and energy crops used for ASES biofuels 73 92 149 1256 110 139 225
Carbon Capture and Storage
Impact of Carbon Price on Cost of Biomass CCS Rhodes, J. and D. Keith, “Engineering Economic Analysis of Biomass IGCC with Carbon Capture and Storage, ” Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 29, 2005
- Slides: 25