Abstract
Issues of traffic congestion and community acceptance limit the size of biomass-processing plants based on truck delivery to about 2 million (M) dry t/yr or less. In this study, the cost of ethanol from an ethanol fermentation plant processing 2 M dry t/yr of corn stover supplied by truck is compared with that of larger plants in the range of 4–38 M dry t/yr supplied by a combination of trucks plus pipelines. For corn stover, a biomass source with a low yield per gross hectare, the cost of ethanol from larger plants is always higher. For wood chips from the boreal forest, a biomass source with a relatively high yield per gross hectare, a plant processing 14–38 M dry t/yr produces ethanol at a 13% reduction in cost compared with a plant producing 2 M dry t/yr supplied by truck. Processing of value-added products, such as chemicals from lignin, would be enabled by larger-scale plants.
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Kumar, A., Cameron, J.B. & Flynn, P.C. Large-scale ethanol fermentation through pipeline delivery of biomass. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 121, 47–58 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:121:1-3:0047
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:121:1-3:0047