Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production Potential and Regional Transportation Fuel Demand

Road traffic dominates in domestic Swedish transportation and is highly dependent on fossil fuels, petrol and diesel. Currently, the use of renewable fuels in transportation accounts for less than 6% of the total energy use in transport. The demand for bioethanol to fuel transportation is growing and cannot be met through current domestic production alone. Lignocellulosic ethanol derived from agricultural crop residues may be a feasible alternative source of ethanol for securing a consistent regional fuel supply in Swedish climatic conditions.  This licentiate thesis focuses on regional transport fuel supply by considering local small-scale ethanol production from straw. It presents the results of investigations of regional transport fuel supply with respect to minimising regional CO2 emissions, cost estimates for transport fuel supply, and the availability of lignocellulosic resources for small-scale ethanol production. Regional transport fuel demand between the present and 2020 is also estimated. The results presented here show that significant bioethanol can be produced from the straw and Salix available in the studied regions and that this is sufficient to meet the regions’ current ethanol fuel demand.  A cost optimisation model for regional transport fuel supply is developed and applied for two cases in one study region, one when the ethanol production plant is integrated with an existing CHP plant (polygeneration), and one with a standalone ethanol production plant. The results of the optimisation model show that in both cases the changes in ethanol production costs have the biggest influence on the cost of supplying the regional passenger car fleet with transport fuel, followed by the petrol price and straw production costs.  By integrating the ethanol production process with a CHP plant, the costs of supplying regional passenger car fleet with transport fuel can be reduced by up to a third. Moreover, replacing petrol fuel with ethanol can cut regional CO2 emissions from transportation by half

BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION IN THREE SWEDISH REGIONS

Bioethanol, especially the bioethanol derived from lignocellulosic biomass, is considered as a feasible alternative to fossil transport fuels. In this paper, the possibilities for bioethanol production are evaluated for three Swedish municipalities. Three lignocellulosic feedstocks are analysed in this study: willow (Salix), wheat straw and oat straw. The evaluation is based on the regional statistical data for year 2006. The objective of the study is also to evaluate if the studied regions can be self-sufficient in transport fuels, currently and in 2020. The results show that the estimated bioethanol production could completely cover the ethanol demand in the studied municipalities. Based on the future scenarios made for the bioethanol production and consumption in those municipalities, it can be concluded that even in 2020 the ethanol fuel demand can be satisfied by the local bioethanol production. Under the assumptions that the gasoline price will increase and at the same time the bioethanol production costs will decrease along with a slight taxation, the potential bioethanol use in the transport sector will be economically favourable

CURRENT STATUS OF THE WASTE- TO- ENERGY CHAIN IN THE COUNTY OF VÄSTMANLAND, SWEDEN

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State of the art In the Waste to Energy Area : Technology and Systems

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