IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i14p3703-d386343.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economics of Distributed Power Generation via Gasification of Biomass and Municipal Solid Waste

Author

Listed:
  • Natarianto Indrawan

    (Environmental Science Graduate Program, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

  • Betty Simkins

    (Department of Finance, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

  • Ajay Kumar

    (Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

  • Raymond L. Huhnke

    (Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

Abstract

More than one billion people worldwide still lack access to electricity. Rural electrification via gasification has the potential to satisfy electricity access and demand. This study conducts an economic evaluation of rural electrification through gasification of biomass and municipal solid waste (MSW) using a 60 kW downdraft gasifier, developed at Oklahoma State University. The effects of feedstock cost, electricity selling price, feed-in-tariff, tipping fee, tax rate, and the output power are evaluated using major financial parameters: the net present value, internal rate of return, modified internal rate of return, simple payback period, and discounted payback period, and sensitivity analysis. Results show that the downdraft gasification power system offers a payback period of 7.7 years, while generating an internal rate of return, modified internal rate of return, and net present value of 10.9%, 7.7%, and $84,550, respectively. Results from a sensitivity analysis indicate that the feed-in-tariff has the greatest positive contribution to the project’s net present value. Using MSW, the gasification power system potentially reduces carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide emissions as compared to direct combustion and landfill. The technology provides a promising future for rural electrification utilizing biomass and MSW whilst offering economic and environmental benefits for local communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Natarianto Indrawan & Betty Simkins & Ajay Kumar & Raymond L. Huhnke, 2020. "Economics of Distributed Power Generation via Gasification of Biomass and Municipal Solid Waste," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:14:p:3703-:d:386343
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3703/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3703/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evans, Annette & Strezov, Vladimir & Evans, Tim J., 2010. "Sustainability considerations for electricity generation from biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 1419-1427, June.
    2. Ruiz, J.A. & Juárez, M.C. & Morales, M.P. & Muñoz, P. & Mendívil, M.A., 2013. "Biomass gasification for electricity generation: Review of current technology barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 174-183.
    3. Bhoi, Prakashbhai R. & Huhnke, Raymond L. & Kumar, Ajay & Thapa, Sunil & Indrawan, Natarianto, 2018. "Scale-up of a downdraft gasifier system for commercial scale mobile power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 25-33.
    4. Elsner, Witold & Wysocki, Marian & Niegodajew, Paweł & Borecki, Roman, 2017. "Experimental and economic study of small-scale CHP installation equipped with downdraft gasifier and internal combustion engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 213-227.
    5. Bhoi, Prakashbhai R. & Huhnke, Raymond L. & Kumar, Ajay & Indrawan, Natarianto & Thapa, Sunil, 2018. "Co-gasification of municipal solid waste and biomass in a commercial scale downdraft gasifier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 513-518.
    6. Kezhen Qian & Ajay Kumar & Krushna Patil & Danielle Bellmer & Donghai Wang & Wenqiao Yuan & Raymond L. Huhnke, 2013. "Effects of Biomass Feedstocks and Gasification Conditions on the Physiochemical Properties of Char," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Indrawan, Natarianto & Thapa, Sunil & Bhoi, Prakashbhai R. & Huhnke, Raymond L. & Kumar, Ajay, 2018. "Electricity power generation from co-gasification of municipal solid wastes and biomass: Generation and emission performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 764-775.
    8. Qian, Kezhen & Kumar, Ajay & Zhang, Hailin & Bellmer, Danielle & Huhnke, Raymond, 2015. "Recent advances in utilization of biochar," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1055-1064.
    9. Ahmad, Anis Atikah & Zawawi, Norfadhila Abdullah & Kasim, Farizul Hafiz & Inayat, Abrar & Khasri, Azduwin, 2016. "Assessing the gasification performance of biomass: A review on biomass gasification process conditions, optimization and economic evaluation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1333-1347.
    10. Robert M. Campbell & Nathaniel M. Anderson & Daren E. Daugaard & Helen T. Naughton, 2018. "Technoeconomic and Policy Drivers of Project Performance for Bioenergy Alternatives Using Biomass from Beetle-Killed Trees," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    11. Boonnasa, S. & Namprakai, P. & Muangnapoh, T., 2006. "Performance improvement of the combined cycle power plant by intake air cooling using an absorption chiller," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 2036-2046.
    12. Thapa, Sunil & Indrawan, Natarianto & Bhoi, Prakashbhai R. & Kumar, Ajay & Huhnke, Raymond L., 2019. "Tar reduction in biomass syngas using heat exchanger and vegetable oil bubbler," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 402-409.
    13. Popp, J. & Lakner, Z. & Harangi-Rákos, M. & Fári, M., 2014. "The effect of bioenergy expansion: Food, energy, and environment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 559-578.
    14. Sunil Thapa & Prakashbhai R. Bhoi & Ajay Kumar & Raymond L. Huhnke, 2017. "Effects of Syngas Cooling and Biomass Filter Medium on Tar Removal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ali Eliasu & Nana Sarfo Agyemang Derkyi & Samuel Gyamfi, 2022. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Gasification for Electricity Generation," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(1), pages 342-348.
    2. Monteiro, Eliseu & Ramos, Ana & Rouboa, Abel, 2024. "Fundamental designs of gasification plants for combined heat and power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    3. Laurene Desclaux & Amaro Olimpio Pereira, 2024. "Residual Biomass Gasification for Small-Scale Decentralized Electricity Production: Business Models for Lower Societal Costs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-26, April.
    4. Xiongchao Lin & Wenshuai Xi & Jinze Dai & Caihong Wang & Yonggang Wang, 2020. "Prediction of Slag Characteristics Based on Artificial Neural Network for Molten Gasification of Hazardous Wastes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Matheus Oliveira & Ana Ramos & Tamer M. Ismail & Eliseu Monteiro & Abel Rouboa, 2022. "A Review on Plasma Gasification of Solid Residues: Recent Advances and Developments," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    6. Durval Maluf Filho & Suani Teixeira Coelho & Danilo Perecin, 2022. "Opportunities and Challenges of Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-13, April.
    7. Li, Chao & Sun, Yifan & Yi, Zijun & Zhang, Lijun & Zhang, Shu & Hu, Xun, 2022. "Co-pyrolysis of coke bottle wastes with cellulose, lignin and sawdust: Impacts of the mixed feedstock on char properties," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1126-1139.
    8. Angelika Sita Ouedraogo & Robert Scott Frazier & Ajay Kumar, 2021. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Gasification and Landfilling for Disposal of Municipal Solid Wastes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, October.
    9. Pan, Peiyuan & Peng, Weike & Li, Jiarui & Chen, Heng & Xu, Gang & Liu, Tong, 2022. "Design and evaluation of a conceptual waste-to-energy approach integrating plasma waste gasification with coal-fired power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    10. Dmitry Porshnov, 2022. "Evolution of pyrolysis and gasification as waste to energy tools for low carbon economy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), January.
    11. Prasad, G. Arun & Murugan, P.C. & Wincy, W. Beno & Sekhar, S. Joseph, 2021. "Response Surface Methodology to predict the performance and emission characteristics of gas-diesel engine working on producer gases of non-uniform calorific values," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    12. Ribó-Pérez, David & Herraiz-Cañete, Ángela & Alfonso-Solar, David & Vargas-Salgado, Carlos & Gómez-Navarro, Tomás, 2021. "Modelling biomass gasifiers in hybrid renewable energy microgrids; a complete procedure for enabling gasifiers simulation in HOMER," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 501-512.
    13. Weiwei Yu & Weiqing Wang & Xiaozhu Li, 2023. "Study on Market-Based Trading Strategies for Biomass Power Generation Participation in Microgrid Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-20, November.
    14. Józef Ciuła & Violetta Kozik & Agnieszka Generowicz & Krzysztof Gaska & Andrzej Bak & Marlena Paździor & Krzysztof Barbusiński, 2020. "Emission and Neutralization of Methane from a Municipal Landfill-Parametric Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-18, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pan, Peiyuan & Peng, Weike & Li, Jiarui & Chen, Heng & Xu, Gang & Liu, Tong, 2022. "Design and evaluation of a conceptual waste-to-energy approach integrating plasma waste gasification with coal-fired power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    2. Bhoi, P.R. & Ouedraogo, A.S. & Soloiu, V. & Quirino, R., 2020. "Recent advances on catalysts for improving hydrocarbon compounds in bio-oil of biomass catalytic pyrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    3. Upadhyay, Darshit S. & Sakhiya, Anil Kumar & Panchal, Krunal & Patel, Amar H. & Patel, Rajesh N., 2019. "Effect of equivalence ratio on the performance of the downdraft gasifier – An experimental and modelling approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 833-846.
    4. Shen, Yafei & Wang, Junfeng & Ge, Xinlei & Chen, Mindong, 2016. "By-products recycling for syngas cleanup in biomass pyrolysis – An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1246-1268.
    5. Díaz González, Carlos A. & Pacheco Sandoval, Leonardo, 2020. "Sustainability aspects of biomass gasification systems for small power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    6. Wang, Linzheng & Zhang, Ruizhi & Deng, Ruiqu & Liu, Zeqing & Luo, Yonghao, 2023. "Comprehensive parametric study of fixed-bed co-gasification process through Multiple Thermally Thick Particle (MTTP) model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    7. Sérgio Ferreira & Eliseu Monteiro & Luís Calado & Valter Silva & Paulo Brito & Cândida Vilarinho, 2019. "Experimental and Modeling Analysis of Brewers´ Spent Grains Gasification in a Downdraft Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, November.
    8. Monteiro, Eliseu & Ismail, Tamer M. & Ramos, Ana & Abd El-Salam, M. & Brito, Paulo & Rouboa, Abel, 2018. "Experimental and modeling studies of Portuguese peach stone gasification on an autothermal bubbling fluidized bed pilot plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 862-877.
    9. Xing Yang & Hailong Wang & Peter James Strong & Song Xu & Shujuan Liu & Kouping Lu & Kuichuan Sheng & Jia Guo & Lei Che & Lizhi He & Yong Sik Ok & Guodong Yuan & Ying Shen & Xin Chen, 2017. "Thermal Properties of Biochars Derived from Waste Biomass Generated by Agricultural and Forestry Sectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.
    10. Mariyam, Sabah & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Al-Ansari, Tareq & Mackey, Hamish. R & McKay, Gordon, 2022. "A critical review on co-gasification and co-pyrolysis for gas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    11. Buentello-Montoya, D.A. & Zhang, X. & Li, J., 2019. "The use of gasification solid products as catalysts for tar reforming," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 399-412.
    12. Pio, D.T. & Tarelho, L.A.C., 2021. "Industrial gasification systems (>3 MWth) for bioenergy in Europe: Current status and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    13. Arnob Das & Susmita Datta Peu, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review on Recent Advancements in Thermochemical Processes for Clean Hydrogen Production to Decarbonize the Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-42, September.
    14. Nicola Aldi & Nicola Casari & Michele Pinelli & Alessio Suman & Alessandro Vulpio, 2022. "Performance Degradation of a Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger Due to Tar Deposition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.
    15. Inayat, Muddasser & Sulaiman, Shaharin A. & Kurnia, Jundika Candra & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2019. "Effect of various blended fuels on syngas quality and performance in catalytic co-gasification: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 252-267.
    16. Pio, D.T. & Tarelho, L.A.C. & Pinto, P.C.R., 2020. "Gasification-based biorefinery integration in the pulp and paper industry: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Alejandro Lyons Cerón & Alar Konist & Heidi Lees & Oliver Järvik, 2021. "Effect of Woody Biomass Gasification Process Conditions on the Composition of the Producer Gas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Yahaya, Ahmad Zubair & Somalu, Mahendra Rao & Muchtar, Andanastuti & Sulaiman, Shaharin Anwar & Wan Daud, Wan Ramli, 2019. "Effect of particle size and temperature on gasification performance of coconut and palm kernel shells in downdraft fixed-bed reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 931-940.
    19. Fazil, A. & Kumar, Sandeep & Mahajani, Sanjay M., 2023. "Gasification and Co-gasification of paper-rich, high-ash refuse-derived fuel in downdraft gasifier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PA).
    20. Ali Eliasu & Nana Sarfo Agyemang Derkyi & Samuel Gyamfi, 2022. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Gasification for Electricity Generation," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(1), pages 342-348.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:14:p:3703-:d:386343. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.