Co-firing biomass with coal for electricity generation-An assessment of the potential in EU27
Journal article, 2009

The European Union aims to increase bioenergy use. Co-firing biomass with coal represents an attractive near-term option for electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES-E). This study assesses the near-term technical potential for biomass co-firing with coal in the existing coal-fired power plant infrastructure in the EU27 Member States. The total technical potential for RES-E from biomass co-firing amounts to approximately 50-90 TWh/yr, which requires a biomass supply of approximately 500-900 PJ/yr. The estimated co-firing potential in EU27 amounts to 20-35% of the estimated gap between current RES-E production and the RES-E target for 2010. However, for some member states the national co-firing potential is large enough to fill the national gap. The national biomass supply potential is considerably larger than the estimated biomass demand for co-firing for all member states. About 45% of the estimated biomass demand for co-firing comes from plants located close to the sea or near main navigable rivers and indicates the possibility for biomass import by sea transport. Thus, biomass co-firing has the potential to contribute substantially to the RES-E development in EU27. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Co-firing

Biomass

Renewable electricity

Author

Julia Hansson

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

Göran Berndes

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

Filip Johnsson

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Energy Technology

Jan Kjärstad

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Energy Technology

Energy Policy

0301-4215 (ISSN)

Vol. 37 4 1444-1455

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Subject Categories

Environmental Engineering

Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Areas of Advance

Energy

DOI

10.1016/j.enpol.2008.12.007

More information

Created

10/7/2017