4.3.3.3 Biomass and bioenergy

Biomass continues to be the world’s major source of food, stock fodder and fibre as well as a renewable resource of hydrocarbons for use as a source of heat, electricity, liquid fuels and chemicals. Woody biomass and straw can be used as materials, which can be recycled for energy at the end of their life. Biomass sources include forest, agricultural and livestock residues, short-rotation forest plantations, dedicated herbaceous energy crops, the organic component of municipal solid waste (MSW), and other organic waste streams. These are used as feedstocks to produce energy carriers in the form of solid fuels (chips, pellets, briquettes, logs), liquid fuels (methanol, ethanol, butanol, biodiesel), gaseous fuels (synthesis gas, biogas, hydrogen), electricity and heat. Biomass resources and bioenergy use are discussed in several other chapters (Fig. 4.13) as outlined in Chapter 11. This chapter 4 concentrates on the conversion technologies of biomass resources to provide bioenergy in the form of heat and electricity to the energy market.

Figure 4.13: Biomass supplies originate from a wide range of sources and, after conversion in many designs of plants from domestic to industrial scales, are converted to useful forms of bioenergy. 

Bioenergy carriers range from a simple firewood log to a highly refined gaseous fuel or liquid biofuel. Different biomass products suit different situations and specific objectives for using biomass are affected by the quantity, quality and cost of feedstock available, location of the consumers, type and value of energy services required, and the specific co-products or benefits (IEA Bioenergy, 2005). Prior to conversion, biomass feedstocks tend to have lower energy density per volume or mass compared with equivalent fossil fuels. This makes collection, transport, storage and handling more costly per unit of energy (Sims, 2002). These costs can be minimized if the biomass can be sourced from a location where it is already concentrated, such as wood-processing residues or sugar plant.

Globally, biomass currently provides around 46 EJ of bioenergy in the form of combustible biomass and wastes, liquid biofuels, renewable MSW, solid biomass/charcoal, and gaseous fuels. This share is estimated to be over 10% of global primary energy, but with over two thirds consumed in developing countries as traditional biomass for household use (IEA, 2006b). Around 8.6 EJ/yr of modern biomass is used for heat and power generation (Figure 4.14). Conversion is based on inefficient combustion, often combined with significant local and indoor air pollution and unsustainable use of biomass resources such as native vegetation (Venkataraman et al., 2004).

Figure 4.14: World biomass energy flows (EJ/yr) in 2004 and their thermochemical and biochemical conversion routes to produce heat, electricity and biofuels for use by the major sectors.

Note: much of the data is very uncertain, although a useful indication of biomass resource flows and bioenergy outputs still results.

Residues from industrialized farming, plantation forests and food- and fibre-processing operations that are currently collected worldwide and used in modern bioenergy conversion plants are difficult to quantify but probably supply approximately 6 EJ/yr. They can be classified as primary, secondary and tertiary (Figure 4.15). Current combustion of over 130 Mt of MSW provides more than 1 EJ/yr though this includes plastics, etc. (Chapter 10). Landfill gas also contributes to biomass supply at over 0.2 EJ/yr (Chapter 10).

Figure 4.15: Biomass sources from land used for primary production can be processed for energy with residues available from primary, secondary and tertiary activities.

Source: van den Broek, 2000.

A wide range of conversion technologies is under continuous development to produce bioenergy carriers for both small- and large-scale applications. Organic residues and wastes are often cost-effective feedstocks for bioenergy conversion plants, resulting in niche markets for forest, food processing and other industries. Industrial use of biomass in OECD countries was 5.6 EJ in 2002 (IEA, 2004a), mainly in the form of black liquor in pulp mills, biogas in food processing plants, and bark, sawdust, rice husks etc. in process heat boilers.

The use of biomass, particularly sugarcane bagasse, for cogeneration (CHP) and industrial, domestic and district heating continues to expand (Martinot et al., 2005). Combustion for heat and steam generation remains state of the art, but advancing technologies include second-generation biofuels (Chapter 5), biomass integrated-gasification combined-cycle (BIGCC), co-firing (with coal or gas), and pyrolysis. Many are close to commercial maturity but awaiting further technical breakthroughs and demonstrations to increase efficiency and further bring down costs.

Biochemical conversion using enzymes to convert ligno-cellulose to sugars that, in turn can be converted to bioethanol, biodiesel, di-methyl ester, hydrogen and chemical intermediates in biorefineries is not yet commercial. Biochemical- and Fischer-Tropsch-based thermochemical synthesis processes can be integrated in a single biorefinery such that the biomass carbohydrate fraction is converted to ethanol and the lignin-rich residue gasified and used to produce heat for process energy, electricity and/or fuels, thus greatly increasing the overall system efficiency to 70–80% (OECD, 2004b; Sims, 2004).

Combustion and co-firing

Biomass can be combined with fossil-fuel technologies by co-firing solid biomass particles with coal; mixing synthesis gas, landfill gas or biogas with natural gas prior to combustion. There has been rapid progress since the TAR in the development of the co-utilisation of biomass materials in coal-fired boiler plants. Worldwide more than 150 coal-fired power plants in the 50–700 MW_e range have operational experience of co-firing with woody biomass or wastes, at least on a trial basis (IEA, 2004c). Commercially significant lignites, bituminous and sub-bituminous coals, anthracites and petroleum coke have all been co-fired up to 15% by energy content with a very wide range of biomass material, including herbaceous and woody materials, wet and dry agricultural residues and energy crops. This experience has shown how the technical risks associated with co-firing in different types of coal-fired power plants can be reduced to an acceptable level through proper selection of biomass type and co-firing technology. It is a relatively low-cost, low-risk method of adding biomass capacity, particularly in countries where coal-fired plants are prevalent.

Gaseous fuels

Gasification of biomass (or coal, Section 4.3.1.1) to synthesis (producer) gas, mainly CO and H₂, has a relatively high conversion efficiency (40–45%) when used to generate electricity through a gas engine or gas turbine. The gas produced can also be used as feedstock for a range of liquid biofuels. Development of efficient BIGCC systems is nearing commercial realization, but the challenges of gas clean-up remain. Several pilot and demonstration projects have been evaluated with varying degrees of success (IEA, 2006d).

Recovery of methane from anaerobic digestion plants has increased since the TAR. More than 4500 installations (including landfill-gas recovery plants) in Europe, corresponding to 3.3 Mt methane or 92 PJ/yr, were operating in 2002 with a total market potential estimated to be 770 PJ (assuming 28 Mt methane will be produced) in 2020 (Jönsson, 2004). Biogas can be used to produce electricity and/or heat. It can also be fed into natural gas grids or distributed to filling stations for use in dedicated or dual gas-fuelled vehicles, although this requires biogas upgrading (Section 10.4).

Costs and reduction opportunities

Costs vary widely for biomass fuel sources giving electricity costs commonly between 0.05 and 0.12 US$/kWh (Martinot et al., 2005) or even lower where the disposal cost of the biomass is avoided. Cost reductions can occur due to technical learning and capital/labour substitution. For example, capital investment costs for a high-pressure, direct-gasification combined-cycle plant up to 50 MW are estimated to fall from over 2000 US$/kW to around 1100 US$/kW by 2030, with operating costs, including delivered fuel supply, also declining to give possible generation costs down to 0.03 US$/kWh (Martinot et al., 2005; Specker, 2006; EIA/DOE, 2006). Commercial small-scale options using steam turbines, Stirling engines, organic Rankin-cycle systems etc. can generate power for up to 0.12 US$/kWh, but with the opportunity to further reduce the capital costs by mass production and experience.