Cost and Co2-Emission Reduction of Biomass Cascading: Methodological Aspects and Case Study of SRF Poplar

This study presents and applies a coherent methodological framework to compare biomass cascading chains, i.e. the subsequent use of biomass for materials, recycling and energy recovery, considering land use, CO₂ emission reduction and economic performance. Example cascading chains of short rotation poplar wood are compared with each other on the basis of literature data. Results for these chains vary strongly, namely, from CO₂ mitigation benefits of 200/Mg CO₂ to CO₂ mitigation costs of 2200/Mg CO₂, and from net CO₂ emission reductions per hectare of biomass production of 28 Mg CO₂/(ha yr) to net CO₂ emissions of 8 Mg CO₂/(ha yr). Using a present-value approach to determine CO₂ emissions and costs affects the performance of long-term cascading chains significantly, i.e. cost and CO₂ emission reduction are decreased. In general, cascading has the potential to improve both CO₂ emission reduction per hectare and CO₂ mitigation costs of biomass usage. However, this strongly depends on the biomass applications combined in the cascading chain. Parameters that significantly influence the results are market prices and gross energy requirements of substituted materials and energy carriers, and the efficiency of biomass production. The method presented in this study is suitable to quantify land use, CO₂ emission reduction and economic performance of biomass cascading systems, and highlights the possible impact of time on the attractiveness of specific cascading chains.