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Economic sensitivity of wood biomass utilization for greenhouse heating application

Author

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  • Chau, J.
  • Sowlati, T.
  • Sokhansanj, S.
  • Preto, F.
  • Melin, S.
  • Bi, X.

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the impacts of technical and market changes on the economic feasibility of using wood biomass to produce heat for an average-sized greenhouse in British Columbia. A previous techno-economic analysis determined that the installation of a wood pellet or a wood residue boiler to generate 40% of the greenhouse heat demand is more economical than using a natural gas boiler alone to generate all the heat [1]. As the techno-economic analysis contained forecasted parameters, a thorough sensitivity analysis is needed for sound decision making. This paper extends the previous techno-economic study by assessing the effect of fuel price, wood biomass energy contribution, and greenhouse size changes on the net present value (NPV) when using a wood pellet or wood residue boiler with or without an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The results indicate that the attractiveness of using wood biomass will increase if the price of fossil fuels increases more than 3% per year or carbon taxes and regulations are applied. Increasing the biomass energy contribution by 20% (to provide 60% of the total heat demand) would still be economical. The installation of a wood pellet boiler or a wood residue boiler is economical for average (7.5Â ha) or large (15Â ha) greenhouses.

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  • Chau, J. & Sowlati, T. & Sokhansanj, S. & Preto, F. & Melin, S. & Bi, X., 2009. "Economic sensitivity of wood biomass utilization for greenhouse heating application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(5), pages 616-621, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:86:y:2009:i:5:p:616-621
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    1. Chau, J. & Sowlati, T. & Sokhansanj, S. & Preto, F. & Melin, S. & Bi, X., 2009. "Techno-economic analysis of wood biomass boilers for the greenhouse industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 364-371, March.
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    8. Li, Hui & Liu, Xinhua & Legros, Robert & Bi, Xiaotao T. & Jim Lim, C. & Sokhansanj, Shahab, 2012. "Pelletization of torrefied sawdust and properties of torrefied pellets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 680-685.
    9. Gourdo, L. & Fatnassi, H. & Tiskatine, R. & Wifaya, A. & Demrati, H. & Aharoune, A. & Bouirden, L., 2019. "Solar energy storing rock-bed to heat an agricultural greenhouse," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 206-212.
    10. Chung-Geon Lee & La-Hoon Cho & Seok-Jun Kim & Sun-Yong Park & Dae-Hyun Kim, 2021. "Comparative Analysis of Combined Heating Systems Involving the Use of Renewable Energy for Greenhouse Heating," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-22, October.
    11. Parascanu, M.M. & Puig-Gamero, M. & Soreanu, G. & Valverde, J.L. & Sanchez-Silva, L., 2019. "Comparison of three Mexican biomasses valorization through combustion and gasification: Environmental and economic analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    12. Wang, Changbo & Chang, Yuan & Zhang, Lixiao & Pang, Mingyue & Hao, Yan, 2017. "A life-cycle comparison of the energy, environmental and economic impacts of coal versus wood pellets for generating heat in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 374-384.
    13. Kong, Lingjun & Tian, ShuangHong & He, Chun & Du, Changming & Tu, YuTing & Xiong, Ya, 2012. "Effect of waste wrapping paper fiber as a “solid bridge” on physical characteristics of biomass pellets made from wood sawdust," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 33-39.
    14. Shizhong Song & Pei Liu & Jing Xu & Linwei Ma & Chinhao Chong & Min He & Xianzheng Huang & Zheng Li & Weidou Ni, 2016. "An Economic and Policy Analysis of a District Heating System Using Corn Straw Densified Fuel: A Case Study in Nong’an County in Jilin Province, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, December.
    15. Marucci, Alvaro & Cappuccini, Andrea, 2016. "Dynamic photovoltaic greenhouse: Energy efficiency in clear sky conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 362-376.
    16. Min Gyung Yu & Yujin Nam, 2016. "Feasibility Assessment of Using Power Plant Waste Heat in Large Scale Horticulture Facility Energy Supply Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-16, February.
    17. Yan, Pei & Zheng, Chenghang & Zhu, Weizhuo & Xu, Xi & Gao, Xiang & Luo, Zhongyang & Ni, Mingjiang & Cen, Kefa, 2016. "An experimental study on the effects of temperature and pressure on negative corona discharge in high-temperature ESPs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 28-35.

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