An Approach to the Economic and Organizational Viability of Biogas Projects

MARÍA EUGENIA CASTELAO CARUANA

Conferencia; Biomass and Bioenergy Conference; 2018

Grupo de Pesquisa Biomasa y Bioenergia

When describing the availability of waste biomass in a region and its potential for the production of bioenergy, technology developers and politicians often assume that biomass collection, storage and exchange occur seamlessly. Organizational and economic issues, however, can impact its use as a biofuel and limit the potential of bioenergy technologies in a wide range of economic sectors. The aim of this study is to identify the main factors that affect the economic and organizational viability of a representative power generation project that applies an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technology and uses manure as feedstock, in Argentina. The results of this study show, firstly, that the efficiency of the bioenergy system depends both on the investments along the supply chain, and on the organizational changes in the collection and transportation stage of biomass. Secondly, they highlight three important aspects to assess the viability of such projects: production scale, changes in organizational routines, and their impact on the overall performance of the production unit. These dimensions are crucial if we consider the use of biomass for producing energy, and they call into question the view of AD technology as cost- effective mechanism for manure management and energy generation in Argentina.