Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle

Forest biomass is the raw material most commonly used to produce quality pellets for domestic households. However, sustainable forest biomass is not available in all regions, but there are other potential raw material sources for biomass heating systems, based on pellets. There are a large number of...

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Main Authors: Víctor M. Soltero, Lidia Román, M. Estela Peralta, Ricardo Chacartegui
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-11-01
Series:Energy Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720313299
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author Víctor M. Soltero
Lidia Román
M. Estela Peralta
Ricardo Chacartegui
author_facet Víctor M. Soltero
Lidia Román
M. Estela Peralta
Ricardo Chacartegui
author_sort Víctor M. Soltero
collection DOAJ
description Forest biomass is the raw material most commonly used to produce quality pellets for domestic households. However, sustainable forest biomass is not available in all regions, but there are other potential raw material sources for biomass heating systems, based on pellets. There are a large number of olive trees in the Mediterranean area, but these are not used as renewable pellet fuel because the bark cannot be used as raw material to produce quality pellets. The aim of this study is to carry out a methodology to estimate the optimal sustainable bioenergy life cycle, and the amount of sustainable residue available (trunk wood) at the end of the life of the olive grove, by optimizing the benefits, through an analysis of costs and income of the whole life process. The methodology determines the potential value of the trunks of olive trees to be used as biomass, in the form of pellets in domestic contexts and in a specific geographical area. In a case study applied to Andalusia, it has been shown that the optimal renewable life-cycle is 97 years. If policies for agricultural and energy sustainability favouring this model were adopted, this region would produce 160,000 tonnes of pellets per year, and 266,500 tonnes per year, if extended to the whole of Spain. This has a potential for providing 70.17% of the current total pellet consumption. The extension of the model to other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece and Italy, would result in an additional 124,000 and 144,000 tonnes of pellets per year, respectively.
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spelling doaj.art-f18d3c55dc674f2ca73f40044bbb22102022-12-21T23:44:11ZengElsevierEnergy Reports2352-48472020-11-01626272640Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycleVíctor M. Soltero0Lidia Román1M. Estela Peralta2Ricardo Chacartegui3Department of Design Engineering, University of Seville, 41011 Seville, Spain; Corresponding author.Department of Design Engineering, University of Seville, 41011 Seville, SpainDepartment of Design Engineering, University of Seville, 41011 Seville, SpainDepartment of Energy Engineering, University of Seville, 41092 Seville, SpainForest biomass is the raw material most commonly used to produce quality pellets for domestic households. However, sustainable forest biomass is not available in all regions, but there are other potential raw material sources for biomass heating systems, based on pellets. There are a large number of olive trees in the Mediterranean area, but these are not used as renewable pellet fuel because the bark cannot be used as raw material to produce quality pellets. The aim of this study is to carry out a methodology to estimate the optimal sustainable bioenergy life cycle, and the amount of sustainable residue available (trunk wood) at the end of the life of the olive grove, by optimizing the benefits, through an analysis of costs and income of the whole life process. The methodology determines the potential value of the trunks of olive trees to be used as biomass, in the form of pellets in domestic contexts and in a specific geographical area. In a case study applied to Andalusia, it has been shown that the optimal renewable life-cycle is 97 years. If policies for agricultural and energy sustainability favouring this model were adopted, this region would produce 160,000 tonnes of pellets per year, and 266,500 tonnes per year, if extended to the whole of Spain. This has a potential for providing 70.17% of the current total pellet consumption. The extension of the model to other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece and Italy, would result in an additional 124,000 and 144,000 tonnes of pellets per year, respectively.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720313299SustainabilityBiomassBiofuelPelletsOlive tree management
spellingShingle Víctor M. Soltero
Lidia Román
M. Estela Peralta
Ricardo Chacartegui
Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
Energy Reports
Sustainability
Biomass
Biofuel
Pellets
Olive tree management
title Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
title_full Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
title_fullStr Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
title_full_unstemmed Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
title_short Sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
title_sort sustainable biomass pellets using trunk wood from olive groves at the end of their life cycle
topic Sustainability
Biomass
Biofuel
Pellets
Olive tree management
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720313299
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