Systems Informatics and Analysis - Engineering and Science of Biomass Feedstock Production and Provision - page 205

Table 8.2 Summary of important SIA applications for local BFPP systems. Important scenario features and results are reported here; interested readers should refer
to the original papers for additional details
Model and/
or reference with year Crop and region Important feature of the scenario Results

Grado and Strauss
[ 84 ]; 1995 (costs
based on 1990$)

Hybrid poplar- based
biorefi nery with
option of using corn
as feedstock; location
not specifi ed

9,020 ha area with 40 km transportation radius; 1,503 ha of
actual plantation; 73.8 Mg ha −1 yield; 6-month harvesting
window; biorefi nery capacity of 10,000 Mg month −1 ;
processing (hydrolysis and fermentation) data taken from
literature

Delivered cost of ethanol based on woody
biomass was $0.38 l −1 ; cost with corn and
wood together was $0.403 l −1 ; inventory
control approach led to 62 % reduction in cost
as compared to other solutions

Cundiff et al. [ 85 ];
1997

Switchgrass-based
biorefi nery
in Piedmont,
Virginia, USA

Biorefi nery capacity 5,600 Mg month −1 ; 50 km collection
radius; harvest over 6 months; open and covered storage;
weather classifi ed as “good” or “poor” with working
probabilities of 1 and 0.9, respectively

Total cost between $13 and $19 dry Mg −1
depending on the scenario and weather
impact; transportation cost between $8 and
$10 dry Mg −1

De Mol et al. [ 80 ];
1997

Thinning, pruning,
waste paper, sludge,
and waste wood
transport in North
Holland, the
Netherlands

Rail, road, or water transport; particle size reduction or drying
as preprocessing; four possible energy plant locations

Simulation model: cost of thinnings about 38 Dfl
(Dutch guilder) dry ton −1 ; cost of prunings
about 10 Dfl (Dutch guilder) dry ton −1
Optimization model: thinning not used due to
high cost; transport a combination of road and
water transport

Duffy [ 61 ]; 2007 Switchgrass production

on a farm in Iowa;
biorefi nery in Iowa

Yield 4 tons per acre; land cost $80 per acre; large square
bales; tarped hoop type structure for storage spread over
two acres

On-farm production cost = $82 ton −1
Storage cost = $16.67 ton −1
Transportation to storage cost = $6.1 ton −1
Transportation to plant cost = $8.65 ton −1

Bee [ 79 ]; 2007 Switchgrass (Alamo)

production in Italy

High, mild, and low cultivation possibilities in two different
regions (south and north) of Italy; break-even yield (BEY)
estimated for selling price of

BEY between 8.5 and 22 Mg ha −1 for different
scenarios, which were higher than the
observed yields € 55 Mg −1

Hess et al. [ 72 ];
2007 (costs
based on 2002$)

Wheat straw-based
biorefi nery in western
high desert, USA

Biorefi nery throughput of 726,000 Mg per year; rectangular
baling, roadsiding, storage, preprocessing, and transporta-
tion; open storage; preprocessing using tub grinder;
average transportation distance of 76 km

Refi nery gate cost of $37 Mg −1 ; baling
$12.8 Mg −1 ; stacking $1.7 Mg −1 ; storage
$4.9 Mg −1 ; preprocessing $6.30 Mg −1 ;
transportation $11.3 Mg −1

(continued)