Biomass Feasibility Project Final Report - Xcel Energy

harvest, the extent to which the fuel was dried after harvest and the way in which the fuel was
processed and stored. Default values have been provided for a number of the fuels in the
model.
Site Processing
Some degree of processing may be necessary at the source of the biomass feedstock.
Agricultural residues may need to be dried and/or baled in the field. Logging residues may be
chipped prior to shipment to a storage facility or the power plant. Food processing wastes may
need to be dewatered prior to use in an anaerobic digester. Default cost values are provided
for each processing option. If more accurate information is available user defined values can
be substituted.
Feedstock Type
The physical characteristics of the feedstock will affect the fuel’s collection and loading costs.
Bales are handled with different equipment than loose woodchips.
Availability
The feedstock availability tool provides an estimate of the quantity of a given biomass feedstock
available within a defined radius of the desired county. County level feedstock availability was
derived from a number of sources including the National Agricultural Statistics Service county
level database. For some feedstocks the quantity available had to be inferred from the
available data. For instance the quantity of corn stover available was derived from the quantity
of corn harvested in each county, based on the typical ratio of corn stover to corn grain.
For the purposes of determining the quantity of fuel available at various transport distances from
a proposed facility the biomass resources of each county were assigned to a point at the
geographical center of the county. The biomass resources available within 25 to 150 miles (in
25-mile increments) of the county center are determined by the county centers that fall within
each radius. For this reason the feedstock availability tool should only be used to gauge the
order of magnitude of specific biomass resources within a region. For instance a county center
that falls just within the 25-mile radius of another county center may have biomass resources
assigned to it that could be significantly more than 25 miles from the original county center
depending upon county geography. A proposal for a commercial bio-power plant should
include much more detailed estimates of available biomass than what is generated by this tool.
Defining the Fuel Delivery Path
It is necessary to develop a full-cost approximation for the delivery of a fully-usable fuel to the
power generation facility. This delivery path can vary significantly across feedstocks and
projects and may take many forms. The user is required to select which options will be included
in the normal operation of the proposed project.
Identifying Effective Biomass Strategies: Page A-5
Quantifying Minnesota’s Resources and Evaluating Future Opportunities