Bioenergy

A financial model of a thermo-chemical biomass to ethanol plant has been developed for LanzaTech.  In a base case modelling scenario the plant produces 150m litres of ethanol and consumes 770,000 tonnes of wood per year. 
The total investment required to build the plant would be NZ$170m.  The breakeven selling price is NZ$0.72 per litre.

This report has been commissioned by Murray Cowan of Bio-Energy Equipment Ltd to ascertain the viability of using a highly automated purpose-built wood chip type Low Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) boiler to provide hot water heating for a dairy shed wash down along with space heating and Domestic Hot Water (DHW) for nearby farm houses.

The conversion of the Paraparaumu Sewerage Sludge Drying Plant from diesel to wood will offer Kapiti Coast District Council the opportunity to slash its fuel costs at the site from the current level of around $575,000 in 2008, to as low as$115,000 in the first year of operation.

In any system for delivering wood residue as bio-fuels from forests or wood processing sites, transport is a key factor and contributes significant cost. Transport cost as a percentage of delivered cost can vary from ~12% (5 km haul) to ~60% (150 km haul) depending on the transport distance.
Optimising transport systems on medium (50 km) to long (100 km) haul transport is therefore critical to minimising costs.