A number of scenarios have been modelled and simulated to assess the technical and economic
viability of the production of bio-char. From the results and discussion, the following points can be
concluded:
It is technically and economically feasible to use PL as the feedstock to operate a pyrolysis/gasification
process. The mass and energy balance results indicate that the heat produced in the gasification process
can properly cope with heat demands from the whole system. Due to near-zero CO2 emissions, the PL
waste fuelled CHP installation offers a significant CO2 saving opportunity for the farm energy supplies. If
a large amount of excess heat from the bio-char production process is utilised this will reduce heating fuel
consumption greatly. As bio-char has the potential to be sold as a soil improver, at a commercial level
income from the proposed process to offset relatively high capital costs is realised from both the sale of
energy and the sale of bio-char. The ‘biochar only’ option has a higher cost than the ‘biochar and CHP’
option. It is clear from Table 2 that the biochar price, gate fees and ROCs have a significant impact on the
LCOE when CHP installed.