The feasibility of biomass CHP as an energy and CO2 source for commercial glasshouses

Abstract

A techno-economic modelling tool has been developed to examine the feasibility of biomass combined heat and power (CHP) technologies to provide the energy and CO 2 demands of commercial horticultural glasshouses. Using the UK as a case study, energy and CO 2 demands of candidate glasshouse installations on an hourly basis are established using both measured and benchmark datasets. Modelled electrical and thermal generation profiles for a number of commercially available small-scale biomass CHP systems of rated outputs of 0.1-5MW e are also derived, and the results of their application within the modelling tool to carry out multi-parametric techno-economic analyses for various operational scenarios are presented. The impacts of both capital grant and generation tariff-based support mechanisms upon economic feasibility are investigated, along with that of variations in feedstock fuel prices. Net CO 2 reductions accruing from the implementation of biomass CHP are also assessed. Finally, technical options, marginal costs and sale tariffs for CO 2 recovery and supply are evaluated for specific scenarios. The results indicate that feasibility is very sensitive to the relationship between specific biomass CHP power:heat ratios and temporal electrical and thermal energy demand profiles, along with economic factors such as specific levels of capital and tariff-based support. With the utilisation of currently available financial support mechanisms, biomass CHP offers significant promise for realising economically viable significant CO 2 emission reductions in this sector.

Comparative techno-economic analysis of biomass fuelled combined heat and power for commercial buildings

“…Biomass is widely available across the UK and comes from a large number of different sources, including combustible agricultural residues, energy crops and wood and woody wastes from forestry and industry [1][2][3]. Biomass, being considered to be a major potential source of green energy in the near future, has generated a considerable amount of interest and may replace much of energy now supplied by these fossil fuels in energy production systems.…”

Modeling, Control and Optimization of a Small Scale CHP System in Island operating Mode based on Fuzzy logic controller

“…(1) is defined as the input exergy and summarized in the following equation. (2) The cogeneration system using the first and the second laws of thermodynamics can be written as [19]. (3) (4) By applying the energy balance to the source and the sink, the input and output heat are described as follow: (5) (6) Finally, the total thermal conductance can be defined as: (7) 2) Optimization method This part presents how to develop and to validate a model based on Lagrange multipliers method.…”

A generic tool for quantifying the energy requirements of glasshouse food production

“…The quantification of the energy requirements of glasshouse food production has been investigated previously in the literature, for example in studies such as those in ASABE (2008), Chalabi et al (2002), Gupta and Chandra (2002), Moreton and Rowley (2012), Ozkan et al (2011aOzkan et al ( , 2011b, Papadopoulos and Hao (1997), Subi c et al (2015), Mariani et al (2016), Luo et al (2005) and Wass and Barrie (1984). In Papadopoulos and Hao (1997), the authors investigated the effect of the glasshouse cover material in three tomato glasshouses focusing on yields, energy requirements and productivity, whereas Gupta and Chandra (2002) focused on the effects of a glasshouse's design on its energy requirements, with a particular interest in the shape and orientation of a glasshouse in India.…”