Evaluation of the Biomass potential for Heat, Electricity and Vehicle Fuel in Sweden

This paper summarizes some results of a thesis, where the objective was to show how far a biomass quantity, equal to the annual potential produced within the Swedish borders, could reach to cover the present energy needs inSwedenwith respect to ecological circumstances. Three scenarios were studied where the available biomass was converted to different energy carriers; heat, electricity and vehicle fuel. Two levels of biomass supply were studied for each scenario: 1) potential biomass quantities available for energy conversion received from forestry, non-forest land, forest industry and municipality; 2) the same quantities as in case 1 plus the potential biomass quantities available for energy conversion received from agriculture. It was indicated that it may be possible to produce as much as 209.4 PJ (58.2 TWh) of electricity via gasification of the Swedish potential of biomass assortments available for energy conversion (i.e. case 2 of biomass supply). The maximum amounts of hydrogen or methanol which may be produced via gasification of the same biomass amounts excluding black liquor were 241.5 PJ/year (67.1 TWh/year) or 197.2 PJ/year (54.8 TWh/year) respectively.QC 20120216ENK5-CT-2002-00623, ECHAIN