Setting up fuel supply strategies for large-scale bio-energy projects using Agricultural and Forest Residues - A methodology for Developing Countries

Setting up fuel supply strategies for large-scale bio-energy projects using Agricultural and Forest Residues - A methodology for Developing Countries

Descripción

In the Southeast Asian region, residues from the agricultural and forestry sector represent a large biomass potential. If all process-based agricultural residues alone were to be utilized, they would contribute between 25-40% of the total primary commercial energy production in various Southeast Asian countries. However, the successful utilization of these residues for electricity (and heat) production in large-scale conversion plants strongly depends on a secure fuel-supply. In the past, severa l projects faced difficulties such as limited accessibility, logistical problems, seasonal availability, increasing residue prices and increased utilization for other applications. It is therefore desirable to set up a methodology to assess these risks before investments are made. The objective of this paper is to develop a coherent methodology to set up fuel supply strategies for large-scale biomass conversion units. This method will explicitly take risks and uncertainties regarding availabilit y and costs in relation to time into account. It will mainly focus on residues from the agricultural and forestry sector. In order to demonstrate the methodology, a case study was carried out for the north-eastern part of Thailand (Isaan), an agricultural region.