Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
[
-
]
FV
feature value
i
interest rate (also called discount rate)
[
-
]
I
total investment costs
[currency]
I d
demolition value of the investment
[currency]
I wc
working capital
[currency]
I 0
investment in production facility and supply structure
[currency]
n
number of years
[year]
NPV
net present value
[currency]
P
profit
[currency]
POT
payout time (alternatively called payback period)
[year]
ROI
return on investment
[%]
S
total sum of income
[currency]
Subscripts
DCFRR
discounted cash flow rate of return
j
year
15.1 WHAT IS A BIOREFINERY AND WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE WITH AN OIL REFINERY?
Currently, modern societies still are depending on fossil fuels to satisfy their energy
and material needs with a prominent role for oil as feedstock in petrochemical indus-
trial complexes. Oil prices have been fluctuating and its availability becomes increas-
ingly challenging, giving progressively rise to pressure on prices and the environment.
Whatever path short-term oil price development will follow, the dropping amount of
available and affordable fossil energy sources, as well as conventional material
sources and the need for sustainable, climate-neutral production technologies, have
led to a renewed interest in the utilization of biomass. Biomass is indeed an abundant,
renewable, and natural source, which is more evenly spread over the world in both
terrestrial and aquatic environments compared to conventional fossil resources.
Its annual global production is of the order of 170
200 billion tonnes (see also
Chapter 1).
The drivers for a biomass-based economy are clean and sustainable environmental
development, economic growth, and green politics. In December 2008, the European
Parliament approved a directive that set mandatory targets on the EU-25 Member
States in order to increase energy efficiency by 20% compared to the present levels,
cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to the 1990 levels, and reach a 20%
renewable energy share of final consumption, within the year 2020 (EC, 2008).
Already in 1949, Glesinger described different concepts to better integrate loosely
operating wood processing factories to create synergies of material production (wood
logs, pulp, and paper), chemicals (e.g., from lignin), energy (gasification of residues),
 
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