Objective
- To assess the economic competitiveness of a variety of biomass pyrolysis applications in the EU,
* To identify the possibilities for mitigation of greenhouse gas emission by implementing biomass pyrolysis systems,
- To identify niche applications for the development of market strategies to help implementation of biomass pyrolysis technologies,
- To enable technology researchers and developers to concentrate on more competitive possibilities,
- Derive norms and standards for fast pyrolysis liquids,
- Assess sector and market strategies for the production of power from pyrolysis liquids,
- Undertake a long term cost/benefit analysis of bio-oil use.
Description of work:
Competitivity Project
The project is considering the competitiveness of bio-oil for heat and/or power at appropriate scales. In each case, this is being compared with the standard fossil reference, i.e. power from the grid at the average price to the user in that location; and heat from a new gas or oil boiler, based on the average gas or oil price to the user in that location. Under Phase 1, cost and performance models have been constructed for bio-oil production and utilisation systems, and for other comparable biomass systems, and also for gas/oil boilers at a range of scales.
The users considered are domestic, industrial and utilities that supply electricity and/or heat. An electricity utility has the option of buying electricity for resale or generating its own, and therefore comparison with the standard fossil reference is legitimate.
A questionnaire has been distributed to the PyNe National Representatives for collecting the data in their different countries. The PyNe members were asked to provide both technical and economic data concerning the specific application, which they have selected.
The BIO-CAT model, developed for establishing the basis for considerations on a (utility oriented) biomass implementation strategy in Austria, already has many of the features required for the project. Experience gained with BIO-CAT has therefore been applied in the design of a new model for the present project. This calculates competitiveness factors for the full range of applications and technologies using data from the questionnaires and from the system cost/performance models.
Greenhouse gas emission characteristics of the various technologies compared with their fossil fuel equivalents are also being analysed.
Non-Technical Barriers to the wider implementation and adoption of fast pyrolysis technology and utilisation of the products are being reviewed. This includes a review of the most recent information on specifications and standards relating to the use of bio-oil for heat, electricity and CHP, and on health and safety issues relating to the use of bio-oil.
A market assessment will be carried out by considering economic competitiveness in combination with environmental characteristics and the assessment of non-technical barriers.
Norms and standards project
The parallel project on the determination of norms and standards for biomass derived pyrolysis liquids will interact with the activities detailed above. The overall objective of the work is to derive norms and standards for biomass derived fast pyrolysis liquids to enable their acceptance in the marketplace as a renewable, alternative fuel. To meet the overall objective, there are various contributing aims:
- Assess the important technology developers, providers of power conversion technology and end-users, collate data on produced liquids, and assess the quality for energy applications.
- Development of norms and standards for pyrolysis liquids, equivalent to existing methods for hydrocarbon and other conventional fuels, e.g. bio-oil grades that are accepted across the EU to increase end user confidence.
- Sector, market and long-term cost/benefit analyses, comparing renewable energy sources to conventional fuel oils.
To achieve this, the following work phases have been carried out:
- A short review fast pyrolysis technologies and describe processes at pre-commercial and commercial scale, in the near to medium term has been completed and is now under review to ensure up to date and accurate. National and EU level incentives to develop pyrolysis technologies at national have also been reviewed and summarised and will be updated in line with new EU legislation.
- A procedure for determining the quality of the pyrolysis liquids to classify it as suitable for a boiler, engine or turbine has been derived from published data and ASTM/DIN liquids fuel standards. A discussion of the proposed specifications was made at the project meeting in Finland in June 2002, based on input from producers and end users. The main conclusions were that the specifications for liquids use in boilers is now possible using five keys parameters of: viscosity, heating value, solids content, stability and flash point. At present there is not enough operational data to derive specifications for use in engines or turbines. This is primarily due to a lack of large quantities of consistent quality liquid and a lack of long term engine or turbine operation.
- Sector and market strategies for the production of heat and power from pyrolysis liquids will be derived in conjunction with the competitivity project. The sectors of interest initially are in Scandinavia in small-scale boilers and engines. This is presently ongoing.
- This project will contribute data on costs of production of pyrolysis liquids from 294 to 305 for completeness, based on published data.
- Quantification of benefits obtained in improving the producer-converter-user interface and improvement of the energy/environmental balance in pyrolysis liquids production has been developed with inputs from boiler and engine manufacturers and end users.
Work on Tasks 3, 4 and 5 are ongoing with colaltion of data on national incentives for bio-energy and emissions data for alterantive liquid fuels.
Expected results
The expected results from the competitivity study are data on specific applications of biomass fast pyrolysis technology in heat, power and CHP markets in Europe. This allows a thorough assessment of the chances for realisation of the specific application investigated in terms of its competitivity with conventional applications for heat and power. A second result is the assessment of possibilities for greenhouse gas mitigation by implementing biomass fast pyrolysis technology.
The establishment of a methodology for competitive assessment that can be applied to other renewable energy forms can help to enable an overview on economical competitiveness of the whole range of biomass to energy conversion applications. It will help to find the most appropriate biomass application for given demand in comparison to conventional fossil solutions and so indicate economically viable possibilities for the enforcement of implementation of renewable energy sources.
The expected results from the work on norms and standards are:
- Norms and standards for pyrolysis liquids in boilers, engines and turbines that meet the needs of consumers,
- Development of an interface between technology providers, power generation and end-users to develop pyrolysis liquid applications and improve integration into existing fuel structures.
- Cost/benefit analysis of pyrolysis liquid combustion compared to conventional fuel oils in terms of environment impact and emissions.
- Review of all ongoing pyrolysis activities in the EU,
- Assessment of the possible markets for pyrolysis liquids in the EU,
- End-user confidence in pyrolysis liquids for boiler and engine applications.
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
B4 7ET Birmingham
United Kingdom