Cost-effectiveness of small scale biomass supply chain and bioenergy production systems in carbon credit markets: A life cycle perspective

摘要

Numerous tools and policies are being developed to promote and incentivize the development and deployment of clean fuel technologies. Carbon emission trading is known as one of the most effective market-based tools to control the generation of carbon emissions. Evaluating the best scenarios to deploy, clean energy solutions must include technology, supply chain, carbon emission and investments analyses. There is still a debate about the feasibility and sustainability of bioenergy scenarios for the different markets. Adapting life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) tools, this study compared the cost-effectiveness of four bio-based energy generation pathways with a diesel-based power generation as the baseline scenario within the context of Canadian remote and rural communities. This analysis provides a ranking of these bioenergy pathways and highlights the potential carbon offsets and credits of the bio-based pathways in comparison with the baseline scenario. Additional tools including multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) are required to provide a complete decision-making platform.