Geographic distribution of economic potential of agricultural and forest biomass residual for energy use: Case study Croatia

This paper provides methodology for regional analysis of biomass energy potential and for assessing the cost of the biomass at the power plant (PP) location considering transport distance, transport costs and size of the power plants. Also, methodology for determination of an upper-level price of the biomass which energy plant can pay to the external suppliers has been proposed. The methodology was applied on the case of Croatia and energy potential of biomass in the Croatian counties was calculated, using different methodologies, for wheat straw, corn stover and forestry residues, types of biomass considered economically viable at the moment. Results indicate that the average energy potential of wheat straw is 8.5 PJ, corn stover 7.2 PJ and forestry residues 5.9 PJ. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.