engleski

Economic viability of biogas plants in relation to raw material input and transportation methods

Biogas plants are an established technology in Europe, although they are still underutilized in Croatia due to the specific state of its agricultural sector. They can reduce the environmental impact of a farm, help with manure management and can also be an extra source of income to the owner. Since they present a sizable investment, it is necessary to optimize their operation to ensure the economic viability of the project. There are several factors that can influence the economic viability of a biogas plant ranging from its size to the modes of transport used to supply it with raw material. The goal of this paper is to present the influence of the size of the installed plant, substrate used as input, utilization of waste heat and the distance of transportation of the substrate and digestate on the economic viability of biogas plants in Croatia. Three typical centralized plants with an installed capacity of 250, 500 and 1000 kWel respectively are used as the basis for the analysis. The examined substrates include animal manure, maize, bio waste and grass. The effect of the waste heat utilization and transport distance of inputs and outputs are also taken into consideration as are different economical parameters such as the investment cost, interest rates, price of electricity and so on. The results of the feasibility and sensitivity studies are presented in the paper.

Biogas; economic viability; transportation; various substrates

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