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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.

Suggested Citation

  • 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. 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.
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