Increasing biomass utilisation in energy systems: A comparative study of CO2 reduction and cost for different bioenergy processing options

Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, need to be greatly reduced to avoid the risk of a harmful climate change. One powerful way to mitigate emissions is to switch fuels from fossil fuels to renewable energy, such as biomass. In this paper, we systematically investigate several bioenergy processing options, quantify the reduction rate and calculate the specific cost of reduction. This paper addresses the issue of which option Sweden should concentrate on to achieve the largest CO2 reduction at the lowest cost. The results show that the largest and most long-term sustainable CO2 reduction would be achieved by refining the woody biomass to fuel pellets for coal substitution, which have been done in Sweden. Refining to motor fuels, such as methanol, DME and ethanol, gives only half of the reduction and furthermore at a higher specific cost. Biomass refining into pellets enables transportation over long distances and seasonal storage, which is crucial for further utilisation of the woody biomass potential. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.