Strategic assessment of bioenergy development in the West : spatial analysis and supply curve development : final report, The University of California, Davis, September 1, 2008
| Authors: | Kenneth E. Skog, Marcia Patton-Mallory, Robert Rummer, Jamie Barbour |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Type: | Miscellaneous Publication |
| Station: | Forest Products Laboratory |
| Source: | [Denver, Colo.] : Western Governors' Association, 2008: vi, 86 pages. |
Abstract
Uncertainties in the contribution that biofuels might make in meeting the energy needs of the transportation sector in the western US by 2015 were addressed by combining a spatially-explicit resource inventory and assessment, models of conversion technologies, and transportation costs into an integrated model of biofuel supply chains. Geographic Information System (GIS) modeling was used in conjunction with an infrastructure system cost optimization model to develop biofuel supply curves using biomass feedstocks throughout the western US. Biofuels could provide between 5 and 10 percent of the projected transportation fuel demand in the region with fuel price between $2.40 and $3.00 per gasoline gallon equivalence (gge) excluding local distribution costs and taxes. A diverse resource base is relied on to provide this fuel with significant contributions from municipal solid waste, agricultural residue, herbaceous energy crop, forest thinning, corn, and lipid resources. The biofuel potential estimated in this way is significant, but substantial uncertainties remain. In interpreting the supply estimates, unresolved questions remain regarding economic performance of the different conversion technologies and the overall sustainability of many of the biomass resources considered.