Feasibility Assessment of a Bioethanol Plant in the Northern Netherlands

Spyridon Achinas, Nienke Leenders, Janneke Krooneman, Gerrit Jan Willem Euverink

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Due to the exhaustion and increased pressure regarding the environmental and political aspects of fossil fuels, the industrial focus has switched towards renewable energy resources. Lignocellulosic biowaste can come from several sources, such as industrial waste, agricultural waste, forestry waste, and bioenergy crops and processed into bioethanol via a biochemical pathway. Although much research has been done on the ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass, the economic viability of a bioethanol plant in the Northern Netherlands is yet unknown, and therefore, examined. In this thesis, the feasibility study of a bioethanol plant treating sugar beet pulp, cow manure, and grass straw is conducted using the simulation software SuperPro Designer. Results show that it is not economically viable to treat the tested lignocellulosic biomass for the production of bioethanol, since all three original cases result in a negative net present value (NPV). An alternative would be to exclude the pretreatment step from the process. Although this results in a lower production of bioethanol per year, the plant treating sugar beet pulp (SBP) and grass straw (GS) becomes economically viable since the costs have significantly decreased.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number4586
    Number of pages11
    JournalApplied Sciences
    Volume9
    Issue number21
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 28 Oct 2019

    Keywords

    • bioethanol plant
    • feasability study
    • northern netherlands
    • renewable energy

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