Potentiale zur energetischen Nutzung von Biomasse in der ... - EPFL

Anhang 51
Bundesamt für Energie BFE
Feedstcok
non-transport
costs
30%
Investment
costs
43%
Feedstcok
transport
costs
14%
Fixed
operating
costs
9%
Variable
operating
costs
4%
Figure 9 Structure of ethanol production cost in the “lignocellulosic feedstock” process design.
One should note the significance of investment costs as well as overall feedstock costs (each item
representing close to 45% of the total production cost. When compared to the more classical ethanol
production from sugar-based agricultural feedstocks where the single most significant element is the
feedstock cost 12
, investment costs in the lignocellulosic process design do have a major role to play.
Key determinants of production cost
An analysis was carried out, in order to asses the effect on ethanol production cost of varying the
most significant parameters, namely “farm-gate” biomass price, specific equipment costs, discount
rate, market price of by-products, plant size, and conversion efficiency 13 . The initial (reference) values
and variation range of each parameter are given in Table 2.
Parameters Reference value Variation range
Farm-gate price of biomass 70.6 CHF/t FM 14-140
Specific equipment costs 96.8 MCHF 50-200
Discount rate 10 % 5-15
Market price of by-products 0.067 CHF/kWh e 0.034-0.134
Plant size 47.5 Ml 14 10-140
Conversion efficiency 69 % 52-94
Table 2 Reference values and variation ranges of sensitivity analysis parameters.
12
According to specific conditions, feedstock costs in the sugar-based ethanol process design can represent up to 80% of
the total production cost, and rarely contribute to less than 50-60%.
13
The conversion efficiency of the process is calculated as the actual volume of ethanol produced to the maximum
theoretical volume that could be expected (considering a complete conversion of all fermentable components to ethanol),
given the composition of the feedstock.
14
Roughly corresponds to 100 MWth on the basis of biomass feedstock input