Identifying environmentally preferable uses for biomass resources : Stage 1 report : identification of feedstock-to-product threads

The situation in each country or region will differ, depending on the fossil fuels that biomass can replace and the specific emissions assigned to them, the electricity generation portfolio, and the availability of resources. [...] In such a cycle the bulk of the energy is lost as unrecoverable latent heat of the steam which limits the thermal efficiency. [...] The steam must be expanded to vacuum conditions to maximize the energy recovery and the result is very large equipment to handle both the high volume flow and the low pressure drop requirements. [...] The filtering process, the need to remove water and the application in engines require that the syngas is cooled, resulting in an energy loss. [...] The heat content of syngas varies greatly with the species and moisture content of the fuel feed and the conversion process employed.