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Ask any chap who is producing (or trying to produce) power from biomass and he will complain only about one thing. No, he will not complain about the gasification technology - that is fairly proven. What he will complain about, and for which there is no proven model, is a dependable supply chain model that ensures regular biomass supply at promised quantities at promised prices.
There are instances where biomass prices have shot up by 300% within a year from the time of inception of the biomass power plant. Add this to the fact that even at such higher prices, power plants were not able to secure a steady supply. Is this simply owing to the greed of the suppliers - usually farmers - or is it more of a biological and ecosystem effect where one is trying to squeeze too much out of a given amount of land.
Whichever it is, unless the biomass power industry figures out a robust way to get a dependable supply chain, this industry is gonna be in trouble for the foreseeable future.
Solarant2010 @ Energy Alternatives India
There are instances where biomass prices have shot up by 300% within a year from the time of inception of the biomass power plant. Add this to the fact that even at such higher prices, power plants were not able to secure a steady supply. Is this simply owing to the greed of the suppliers - usually farmers - or is it more of a biological and ecosystem effect where one is trying to squeeze too much out of a given amount of land.
Whichever it is, unless the biomass power industry figures out a robust way to get a dependable supply chain, this industry is gonna be in trouble for the foreseeable future.
Solarant2010 @ Energy Alternatives India