Biomass Magazine
Summary
Feedstock costs for biomass power plants and combined-heat-and-power systems represent a significant percentage of operational expenses, and harvesting, hauling and transportation costs constitute a vast majority of feedstock costs. Innovations upstream, therefore, may ultimately play a big role to reduce the cost of biomass to the end user. “That makes perfect sense,” says Tom Gallagher, a professor of forest operations at Auburn University. “The problem is, there are so many limitations on what we can do. Biomass is a low-value commodity. The market is significantly worse than it used to be.” Gallagher says in the “heyday,” biomass deliveries were fetching $28 a ton, even for “dirty” chips. “Now they’re lucky to get $20,” he says. “They can [barely] afford to make it for that, so there are limitations on what efficiencies can do.”
One efficiency Gallagher sees as crucial to lowering costs is moving more biomass at once. To do this, trailers can be adapted to accommodate greater loads. But first, regulations must be updated.
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