Reports and publications
A
situation analysis of biomass resources and conversion technologies New
Zealand has a range of bioenergy options that could provide a
meaningful contribution to the nation's energy future. The role of this
Situation Analysis is to identify options for realising this potential
and to determine the most appropriate areas of research for New Zealand
to pursue. Download full report [5.95 MB]
A financial model of a thermo-chemical biomass
to ethanol plant has been developed for LanzaTech.
In a base case modelling scenario the plant
produces 150m litres of ethanol and consumes 770,000 tonnes of wood per
year.
The total investment required to
build the plant would be NZ$170m.
The
breakeven selling price is NZ$0.72 per litre
. Download full report [792KB]
This report presents a set of data as maps and tables, showing the amounts
and locations of forest residues and other lignocellulosic residues over time
from 2005 to 2030 (2050 for forest harvest residues).
Download full report [2220 KB]
This report presents a set of data as maps and tables, showing the amounts
and locations of potential energy that can be derived from municipal, farm and
some industrial wastes and effluents as at 2005.
Download full report [371KB]
Much more of New Zealand’s forest harvest leftovers could be
converted into valuable energy, according to a study commissioned by
the Forest Industry Development Agenda (FIDA).
Production of biomass fuels from forest harvest residue is not
a new idea, but the FIDA research highlights the potential for turning New Zealand’s harvest residue - about one million tonnes a year - into energy for the industrial heat sector and beyond.
The study identified barriers such as ineffective equipment
and work practices, lack of information, transportation and cost. It
recommends a variety of actions the forest and wood processing
industries could take to encourage more businesses to tap into energy
efficient potential of woody biomass.
The study is food for thought for forest owners, harvesters
and processing plants interested in the economic and environmental
benefits of converting wood waste to energy.
Meanwhile, the central North Island is leading the way in New Zealand
with its use of forest residues for energy, mainly because of its
forests’ proximity to industries needing heat, steam and energy.
Download the full study (split into two parts due to size constraints)
Forest Residue Harvesting for Bio-energy Fuels (Part 1) [345KB PDF]
Forest Residue Harvesting for Bio-energy Fuels (Part 2) [465KB PDF]
One
of the energy forms that biomass can be converted into is electricity.
In response to a call to the Bioenergy Hotline, bioenergy experts have
completed a quick survey of the feasibility of a number of methods of
converting biomass into electricity. The options for generation
electricity were: 1) via a two-step process of first converting the
biomass to ethanol and then to electricity via jet turbine; 2) via a
steam turbine; 3) via a two step process of gasifing the biomass and
then converting the gas to electricity via a gas turbine; 4) via an
organic Rankine cycle.
Download the short report (4 pages) for more details.
Options for generating biomass [86 KB PDF]