Assessment of technologies for biomass conversion to electricity at the wild land-urban interface

In the near term, biomass in various forms is the most available renewable energy source in the USA, particularly in the wild land-urban interface (WUI). With current high natural gas (NG) prices the possibility of gasifying biomass and developing a local Biomass Alliance with Natural Gas (BANG) so that the biomass gas (BG) can supplement natural gas (NG) could have many energy, environmental and economic (EEE) benefits. An analytic cost estimation (ACE) method is used to assess various BANG technologies potentially applicable at the WUI and to determine NG prices at which BG capable systems can deliver electricity at competitive costs. ACE is based upon the approximate linear relationship between cost of electricity (COE = Y), and cost of fuel (COF = X), i.e., Y = K + SX, as seen in many detailed cost analyses of electrical generating systems. ACE is here used to guide efforts directed towards energy sustainability in the WUI where nearby biomass stores arc abundant. Thermal conversion and the use of the fuel to supplement NG is considered here at various power (P) levels to lower the cost of electricity. A reasonable K(P) and S(P) for NG fired electrical generation systems is first established. Then using an Antares Group Inc. report (AGIR) analyses of eleven biomass fueled technologies K(P) and S(P) are identified using only three adjusted parameters for each technology. An accurate analytical equation is also found for AGIR calculations of net present value (NPV = Z) vs. P and Y. These equations are then used to interpolate and extrapolate the AGIR economic analyses to other Ps and X or Y in some cases leading to other conclusions than in the AGIR. We conclude that BANG can save energy costs in many communities at the WUI and lead the way to: the development of economically competitive woody biomass supply and applications industries provide jobs, stabilize local economies, reduce USA's dependence on imported fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions.