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Review of the Potential for Large Bio-Energy Plants

Technical Review

1 September 2006

Capture

Karen Laughlin

Citation: IEAGHG, "Review of the Potential for Large Bio-Energy Plants", 2006-TR03, September 2006.

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Publication Overview

The aim of this report is to provide a critical review and comparison of the key technical and economic assumptions presented in published papers on bio-energy plants, principally those referenced in the IPCC SRCCS.

Publication Summary

The optimum size of bio-energy plants depends on the fraction of land around the plant which is devoted to biomass production, biomass yields per hectare, the relationship between biomass transportation distance and costs, and costs and economies of scale in the bio-energy conversion plant. The optimum size therefore depends on the characteristics of the site and the level of technology development.

A wide range of assumptions have been made in published bio-energy studies, resulting in different optimum plant sizes. Some of the studies which focused on particularly large plant sizes did not take into account the effects on costs of increased biomass transportation distances.

The addition of CO₂ capture and transportation will increase capital costs and is likely to increase the economic optimum plant size.

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