Efficiency and economy of wood-fired biomass energy systems in relation to scale regarding heat and power generation using combustion and gasification technologies

摘要

Policy objectives to increase biomass' contribution to the energy supply in industrialised countries are quite ambitious, but biomass resources are rather limited and expensive in many situations. Therefore, an optimal utilisation of resources producing a maximum of energy at minimal costs is desirable. A wide variety of biomass conversion options with different performance characteristics exists. Also, the economic and energetic performance depends on many variables, such as costs of logistics, scaling effects and degree of heat utilisation to name a few.