Spatial biomass resource planning framework for co-firing under carbon policy scheme

Abstract

Effective spatial planning is crucial for the cost-effectiveness and sustainable development of biomass energy resources due to the diffuse nature of biomass and high transportation cost. To leverage the existing capitals of the fossil fuels energy systems, portions of biomass can be integrated as fuel within the existing energy facilities through co-firing technology. Although biomass co-firing operates at a low retrofitting cost environment, this does not eliminate all the associated cost required in supplying the biomass to the power generation facilities. This paper presented the development of a spatial biomass resource planning framework which integrates several modelling tools such as Geographical Information System (GIS), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to investigate the level of carbon prices needed to support co-firing implementation in Malaysia in 2020. The results have been showing that carbon price range of 3 - 12 USD/t can be imposed by Malaysia in order to achieve the future national renewable and environmental targets while reducing the coal-based industrial emissions of up to 19.75 %.