[Gasification] Nuclear and Biomass Electric Generation

[Tom Miles]

David,

The US biomass number (28 billion kWh) is for all biomass generation
including direct combustion and cogeneration, from the EIA data as noted.

The worldwide gasification number was quick estimate based on 10 MWe at 30%
capacity factor. The actual number is larger but I haven't seen any recent
accounting of net generation from biomass gasification.      

Electricity is generated via gasification in only a few plants worldwide. A
few "large" scale systems are the CFB's in Lahti, Finland (Foster Wheeler),
which is gasifying about 8 MWe of waste for co-firing in a coal facility,
and Gussing, Austria (Repotec), which is a 2 MWe CHP plant using a Jenbacher
engine; and the FB in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Energy Products of Idaho), where a
6 MWe gasifier fires a boiler and steam turbine. New plants include the
updraft Jenbachers at Kokemaki, Finland (Condens Oy) and the 5 MWe FB in
Skive, Denmark (Carbona) which is under construction. There may be others
but the total installed capacity of industrial or utility systems probably
doesn't exceed 15 MWe. These probably operate with a combined net capacity
factor of about 70%. So that might make 92 million kWh. 

There are several small systems in India (100-250 kWe) that probably would
add another 5 MWe. At a capacity factor of about 30% add 13 million kWh. 

There are many (2000?) very small gasifiers in India and Asia (4-10 kWe)
that operate 5-6 hours per day. At a capacity factor of 25% (6 hrs/day x 4
kWe) add 18 million kWh.

So by this rough count gasifiers may generate 122 million kWh. Still very
small. Someone should survey the actual power generation from gasification
worldwide. 

I think the large scale market in Europe and the US for power generation is
waste gasification for cofiring as demonstrated in the Lahti case. There was
a policy in Austria and Germany to repower small (1 MW thermal) heating
plants to generate power. That would seem to be a very good application
because heat recovery from an engine would be built in. But I understand
that policy has changed. I do not know of any commercial incentives to build
gasifiers for power generation in Europe, except for the UK where non-fossil
contracts may stimulate several (Biomass Engineering Ltd) 250 kWe gasifiers.
We have no similar policies to promote commercial gasification for power
generation in the US. Our policy seems to be to promote gasification for
liquid fuels. In think that power generation could be used to build the
systems and experience needed for eventual liquid fuels production.    

Tom    



             

-----Original Message-----
From: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of David G. LeVine
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 8:59 AM
To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Nuclear and Biomass Electric Generation

At 05:45 AM 5/1/2007, you wrote:
>So the direct comparison is 59 plants generating 426 billion kWh vs 104
>plants generating 787 billion kWh . . .vs US biomass at 28 billion kWh vs
>worldwide gasification at 26 million kWH?

Are you saying that the US is not on this planet, or is the worldwide 
number ignoring the US contribution?

If the latter is the case, the rest of the world is generating 0.1% 
of what the US is in biofuels.  That is pretty telling.


David G. LeVine
Nashua, NH  03060


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