TITLE:
Biomass Analysis by Means of Environmental Economics
AUTHORS:
Stephanos D. V. Giakoumatos, Odysseas N. Kopsidas
KEYWORDS:
Biomass, Economics, Cost, Benefit, Greenhouse Gases, Sustainability, SWAT Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Low Carbon Economy,
Vol.12 No.1,
March
31,
2021
ABSTRACT: The latest years, oil and gas demand reduction
incurred market turbulences as a result of oil wells exploitation uncertainties
and new green policies towards sustainability that turn the stakeholders to
eco-friendlier energy sources. A challenging alternative to this direction is
the increment of biomass share in the overall consumed energy balance. From
many standpoints of view, biomass has minor impact on the CO2-cycle
balance “operating” as an offset against CO2 photosynthesis. In the present work, a practically holistic interpretation of
biomass energy contribution in our societies was outlined. Expert systems were
developed as a tool to biomass energy analysis and certain models were presented to approach
estimation of individual parts of biomass exploitation chain. The tendency of
energy crop land availability and best cultivated practices were presented as
well. A schematic cost analysis of biomass utilization was performed under most
common operational scenarios. Economic evaluation, future strategic planning
and environmental impact from energy biomass utilization were all analyzed up
to a certain point. Biomass as a renewable energy form is expected to bring
about a positive cost/benefit ratio.
Biomass, in general, is easier to handle, (storage-transportation), cost-effective and more beneficial in terms of
greenhouse gases (GHG) net emissions as results from an incorporated ad hoc
developed SWOT analysis.