An economic comparison of dedicated crops vs agricultural residues as feedstock for biogas of vehicle fuel quality

Lantz, Mikael; Kreuger, Emma; Björnsson, Lovisa

doi:10.3934/energy.2017.5.838

Cited by 7 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The energy required for the distribution of ethanol to filling stations was calculated assuming the use of trucks with a filling capacity of 35 t and an average fuel consumption of 5 kWh per km including empty return transport [27]. The transportation distance was set to 30 km.…”

Section: Ethanolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2016, the feedstock at these biogas plants was mainly sewage sludge, manure and various kinds of municipal and industrial organic waste [29]. Although most biogas plants use a mixture of feedstock, the data used in this study are based on a previously published study in which model calculations were applied to plants using grain or straw only [27].…”

Section: Biogasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, from an economic point of view, there is a clear efficiency of scale favouring larger installations. Upgrading technologies also differ regarding their energy and water demand, as well as methane emissions and methane concentration in the upgraded gas [27]. The optimal solution at specific sites is thus determined by local conditions.…”

Section: Materials and Energy Flows Grain Strawmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the assumptions made for ethanol production by Joelsson et al [22,26] the weighted average cost of capital was set to 11% and the depreciation time was set to 20 years for all investments. In the sensitivity analysis, the WACC was set to 6% and the depreciation time to 15 years, based on the assumptions made in recent calculations of biogas production cost in Sweden [27].…”

Section: Capital Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was also assumed that the plant nutrients removed with the straw would be replaced in the form of mineral fertilizer. Typical straw nutrient contents were used to calculate these amounts [27] (Table A2).…”

Section: Appendix A1 Cultivation Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogas and Ethanol from Wheat Grain or Straw: Is There a Trade-Off between Climate Impact, Avoidance of iLUC and Production Cost?

et al. 2018

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Current EU policy calls for decreased emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by i.e., replacing fossil fuel in the transportation sector with sustainable biofuels. To avoid indirect land use change (iLUC), the EU at the same time strives to limit the use of crops and to increase the use of residues. In this study we compare climate impact and production cost for biogas and ethanol based on wheat grain and straw, respectively, in a Swedish context. The economic competitiveness for ethanol from straw vs. grain is evaluated based on the mandatory emission reduction for fossil vehicle fuels implemented since July 2018 in Sweden. The result of this study clearly shows that biogas and ethanol from straw have the lowest GHG emissions regardless of the calculation method used, although biofuels from grain also fulfill EU GHG reduction criteria even when suggested iLUC factors are included. It was also shown that the cost of producing straw-based biofuels was higher, thus there is a trade-off between climate impact and costs. The GHG reduction mandate adopted in Sweden partly compensates for this, but is not enough to make ethanol from straw competitive from an economic perspective.

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Section: Ethanolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biogasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Materials and Energy Flows Grain Strawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Capital Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Appendix A1 Cultivation Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogas and Ethanol from Wheat Grain or Straw: Is There a Trade-Off between Climate Impact, Avoidance of iLUC and Production Cost?

et al. 2018

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Biogas Processing, Storage and Distribution, Transportation and Value Chain Analysis

Das¹,

Chakraborty²,

Chinnasamy³

et al. 2020

Biogas Production

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Impact of Harvest Date and Cutting Length of Grass Ley and Whole-Crop Cereals on Methane Yield and Economic Viability as Feedstock for Biogas Vehicle Fuel Production

et al. 2018

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Grass ley and whole-crop cereals used for biogas production are often finely chopped for subsequent ensiling and anaerobic digestion. Chopping can impact not only ensiling stability, digestibility and risk of process hick-ups in the digester but also harvesting capacity and fuel consumption. Based on field experiment data, the aim of this study was to investigate how three different nominal cutting lengths in the range of 3.5 mm to 12.5 mm impact methane yield and economic viability of grass ley and whole-crop cereals used as biogas substrate. A shorter cutting length affected the specific methane potential differently for the different crops, + 14 to − 25%. In biogas vehicle fuel production, balancing the additional energy and economic costs for shorter cutting length required an increased methane potential of less than 1% and 3%, respectively. As long as a decrease in cutting length increased the methane potential, the energy balance and economic result improved, despite higher energy inputs. However, mechanisms behind the impact on methane potential deserve further attention. In conclusion, we have shown that it is economically viable to produce methane gas, as a vehicle fuel, from several agricultural crops grown in the south of Sweden, i.e. grass ley and whole-crop rye and wheat, when they are harvested/chopped with a forager, ensiled as biogas feedstocks and processed to methane gas in a large-scale biogas plant.

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An economic comparison of dedicated crops vs agricultural residues as feedstock for biogas of vehicle fuel quality

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

Biogas and Ethanol from Wheat Grain or Straw: Is There a Trade-Off between Climate Impact, Avoidance of iLUC and Production Cost?

Biogas and Ethanol from Wheat Grain or Straw: Is There a Trade-Off between Climate Impact, Avoidance of iLUC and Production Cost?

Biogas Processing, Storage and Distribution, Transportation and Value Chain Analysis

Impact of Harvest Date and Cutting Length of Grass Ley and Whole-Crop Cereals on Methane Yield and Economic Viability as Feedstock for Biogas Vehicle Fuel Production

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