Economic Assessment of Miscanthus Cultivation for Energy Purposes in the Czech Republic

Vávrová, Kamila; Knápek, Jaroslav

doi:10.3775/jie.91.485

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…Price assumptions stated in the reviewed literature range from 48.56 €/t dm [15] to 134 €/t dm [52,36]. Assumptions on mean prices range from 48.56 €/t dm [15] to 108 €/t dm [52].…”

Section: Pricesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Due to the high costs of this machinery, Miscanthus harvest is usually outsourced to contractors [9]. 1 The yield potential of a fully established 3-4 m tall Miscanthus plantation usually reaches from 10 to 20 t dm/ha (tons dry matter per ha) [35] although extremes range from 2.5 to 60 t dm/ha [36,37] depending on local agronomic conditions. The energy content of Miscanthus is comparable to wood with around 17 MJ/t 2 (mega joule per ton) [38,39] potentially enabling Miscanthus to act as a substitute for woody biomass.…”

Section: Background On Miscanthus Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a perennial crop, Miscanthus needs to be planted only once (apart from selective replanting after the first winter) and afterwards provides annual yields over a lifespan of 10-20 years [36,40]. At the end of its lifespan, when yields are decreasing, the Miscanthus plantation is closed using herbicides (e.g.…”

Section: Background On Miscanthus Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead of assuming a market price 11 studies [15,20,32,36,55,61,62,65,[71][72][73] calculate the breakeven price of Miscanthus production in order to identify the minimum required or the maximum achievable market price. For the calculation of the break-even price, two different approaches are applied in the examined studies: For instance, Jain et al [15], Khanna et al [20], and James et al [61,62] calculate a "comparative breakeven price" which not only covers production costs of Miscanthus but also the forgone profits of alternative crops such as corn or soybean to find the minimum price that a farmer would demand for growing Miscanthus.…”

Section: Pricesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7. It has to be considered that the number of rhizomes used per ha varies strongly between 10.000 and 20.000 [36,61,9,49]. 11 Assuming equal prices means a potential doubling of material costs.…”

Section: Costs Of Miscanthus Cultivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic evaluation of Miscanthus production – A review

Witzel

Finger

2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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a b s t r a c tThis paper reviews the peer-reviewed literature dealing with the economics of Miscanthus cultivation, to identify factors influencing the adoption of Miscanthus and to reveal shortcomings in research. In total, 51 studies have been identified for this review. The majority of these publications are recent (i.e. the majority is published after 2009) and concern case studies in Europe (particularly the UK and Ireland) and North America. This review reveals that the economic viability of Miscanthus depends on largely uncertain assumptions especially concerning yields (10-48 t dry matter per ha) and prices (48-134 €/t dry matter) but also concerning the lifespan (10-20 years) and different cost items. A lack of established markets, high establishment costs and uncertainties, arising to a large extent from the long term commitment, are identified as major barriers to Miscanthus adoption. In addition, the level of support for Miscanthus production (e.g. via subsidies) is identified as crucial for Miscanthus profitability, but is found to be highly heterogeneous across countries. Next to diversity in agronomic and economic assumptions, also the assessment criteria and research techniques used to investigate the profitability of Miscanthus differ widely. While the net present value criterion was most frequently used, we identify a lack of approaches that account for risks and uncertainties, which seem to potentially play a critical role in the uptake of Miscanthus by farmers.

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“…Price assumptions stated in the reviewed literature range from 48.56 €/t dm [15] to 134 €/t dm [52,36]. Assumptions on mean prices range from 48.56 €/t dm [15] to 108 €/t dm [52].…”

Section: Pricesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Background On Miscanthus Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background On Miscanthus Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pricesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Costs Of Miscanthus Cultivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Economic evaluation of Miscanthus production – A review

Witzel

Finger

2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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Effectiveness of biomass for energy purposes: a fuel cycle approach

Knápek

Králík

Valentová

et al. 2015

WIREs Energy & Environment

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The article presents a methodology that allows the complex evaluation of the energy and economic effectiveness of the different kinds of biomass providing, processing and utilization for energy purposes. The methodology is based on identification of the whole fuel cycle for the individual types of grown biomass and conversion technologies used for production of end-use energy products (such as biomethane, liquid biofuels, electricity, and heat). The evaluation of energy efficiency is based on the calculation of the net energy effect resulting from the use of 1 ha of agricultural land to grow biomass for energy purposes respecting differences in biomass fuel cycles due to differences in biomass production, conversion technologies, and end-use energy products. Evaluation of the economic effectiveness of biomass utilization combines efficiency of biomass planting, conversion technologies, and the economic parameters of the individual elements of the fuel cycle. The application of the method is demonstrated on selected cases of biomass fuel cycles in the conditions of the Czech Republic. The methodology can serve as the groundwork for identifying the most effective strategies of biomass utilization for the energy purposes with respect to the limitation of agricultural land availability and the economic effectiveness of end-use energy products providing.

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Energy biomass competitiveness—three different views on biomass price

Knápek

Vávrová

Valentová

et al. 2017

WIREs Energy & Environment

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The paper presents an economic model that provides a systemic approach to the evaluation of growing biomass for energy purposes. We argue that to correctly evaluate the potential of energy biomass, it is necessary to look at it from three different, but interconnected perspectives: (1) minimum price for growing biomass for energy purposes, (2) opportunity costs with respect to other uses of the arable land, namely production of conventional crops, and (3) the aspects of substitution of fossil fuels (e.g., coal) for biomass—the analysis of the demand. Our economic model incorporates the three above points of view. Furthermore, on the case study of the Czech Republic, we show the practical implications of the model on assessment of energy biomass in real conditions. The main findings are that to give the farmers the same rate of return as conventional crops, the price of intentionally grown biomass for energy purposes in the Czech Republic would have to be up to almost three times higher than is the adequate minimum price. On the other hand, in order to be competitive as a substitute for coal for local space heating, the price of biomass would have to be close to zero. WIREs Energy Environ 2017, 6:e261. doi: 10.1002/wene.261 This article is categorized under: Bioenergy > Economics and Policy

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Economic Assessment of Miscanthus Cultivation for Energy Purposes in the Czech Republic

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Economic evaluation of Miscanthus production – A review

Economic evaluation of Miscanthus production – A review

Effectiveness of biomass for energy purposes: a fuel cycle approach

Energy biomass competitiveness—three different views on biomass price

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