Comparative techno-economic analysis of ORC and gasification for bioenergy applications

The use of biomass for decentralized energy production has undergone a significant development the last years. The fact that this fuel is CO2-free provides many advantages in European and world aims for sustainable energy sources. Biomass trigeneration is a relatively new concept, which has the potential to improve the bioenergy economics for areas with warm climate, for which traditional biomass cogeneration was unfeasible. This concept can be applied with various energy conversion technologies, two of which are investigated in this paper: ORC and gasification. Both technologies are applied for a specific case study. The technological and financial comparison of the two technologies shows that gasification offers improved yield for the investment, mainly due to the higher electrical efficiency factor. However, attention should be placed to the increased investment risk of gasification projects, which could be an aversive factor for some investors.