Biomass Feasibility Project Final Report - Xcel Energy

CHAPTER III : BIOMASS AVAILABILITY FOR
ENERGY
The preceding chapter told what volumes of biomass are produced each year in Minnesota.
It’s important to know that. But if all that biomass were to go into energy, people and animals
would go hungry. So it’s even more important to know what portion of total biomass can be
considered for fuel. That is the subject of this chapter.
CURRENT BIOMASS POTENTIAL RELATIVE TO STATEWIDE
ENERGY USE
The following graphs show that biomass is unlikely to provide more than a portion of Minnesota’s
demand for energy. These charts comparing existing biomass resources to total energy
consumption, electricity consumption, and summer demand with the energy contained in all
Minnesota biomass that can be harvested and brought to market – both food crops and
residues. It would take almost every available bit of biomass in Minnesota to meet the state’s
electricity needs.
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,600,000
Transportation
1,400,000
Billion Btu
1,200,000
1,000,000
Industrial
800,000
600,000
Commercial
400,000
200,000
Residential
-
Agricultural
Residues
Crops
Agricultural
Processing
Residues
Wood Manures Animal
Processing
Residues
Human Waste
Streams
Minnesota's
Total Energy
Consumption
Figure III-1: Total Theoretical Energy Potential
That obviously is not a possibility. Most biomass, especially in large categories like crops and
wood, is destined to be made into products like food, lumber and paper. Some liquid fuel
manufacturers, like corn ethanol producers, may be able to outbid food manufacturers for
crops because their prices track ever more costly petroleum. But prices of fuels for electric
power are constrained by the low prices of its competition, coal and nuclear fuels. Biomass
power plants will have to live on the leavings, like the hays, straws and stalks that contain
approximately 10% of Minnesota’s annual energy consumption, or manures and woody residues,
which each contain about 1%. Or perhaps future dedicated energy crops, like switchgrass or
prairie grasses, which are not accounted for in current growth statistics.
Page 30
Identifying Effective Biomass Strategies:
Quantifying Minnesota’s Resources and Evaluating Future Opportunities