The 6th International Conference on Biomass Energy (ICBE2018)

485 / 2018-09-09 10:28:08

Life Cycle Analysis of Energetic, Environmental, and Economic Performance of Torrefied Wood Pellets From British Columbia

Plenary track > D. Biomass Briquettes & Pellets

British Columbia (BC) is a major supplier of wood pellets to the global market. This work aims to investigate the most suitable markets for torrefied wood pellets (TWPs) from BC by quantifying the energetic, environmental and economic (3E) performances of supply chains to different markets. Different TWPs production configurations are also compared on a supply chain level.
With uncertainties taken into consideration, we found that processing in the sequence of drying, torrefaction, grinding and pelleting has the best performance. On average, this process sequence can reduce energy consumption by 27%, GHG emissions by 23%, and costs to different destinations by up to 22% in comparison with conventional wood pellets (CWPs). Over the life cycle, transportation contributes most to GHG emissions (over 50%), while electricity usage (production and sawmilling) accounts for about 50% of total energy consumption. Production (41% to 54%) and transportation are also the two major cost categories. We have also quantified the GHG reduction potential of replacing coal under different co-firing conditions and other possible measures incuding using blended fuel and improved marine vessels.
With low-carbon clean electricity mix and rich biomass resources, BC has a comparative advantage in wood pellet production. Pareto analysis and equivalent markets analysis reveal that the coast region of Asia Pacific is an important market for BC wood pellets, with its carbon footprint being equivalent to the market in Saskatchewan, and economically equivalent to the market in Alberta. Although GHG emissions of delivered BC wood pellets to EU and the UK markets are higher than domestic markets, their delivery costs are economically equivalent to the markets of Ontario and Quebec.