Economic feasibility of forest biomass feedstock supply chains: clean and dirty chips for bioenergy applications

There is a lack of economic feasibility analyses on the harvesting of forest biomass to supply low-carbon bioenergy feedstocks using actual data on the mixed product harvest in the hardwood region of the northeast USA. This study is a techno-economic analysis of three different scenarios (clean chips, dirty chips, or pulpwood) based on data collected from whole-tree harvesting systems over 6 years. Each scenario had two different cases: one with costs and revenues allocated by mass (allocated system), and the other without allocation (whole system). The six cases of three scenarios tested resulted in a wide range of positive net present values (NPVs) from $1 713 000 to $819 in US dollars. Clean chip production generated substantial NPVs and dirty chips generated marginal NPVs. The minimum selling prices (MSPs) of clean chips from two cases were similar, $45.92 and $45.55 per green metric ton (Mg), with maximum hauling distances (MHDs) of 247 and 250 km (km). The MSPs for dirty chips from four cases ranged from $34.38 to $37.47 per Mg with the range of MHDs from 184 to 351 km. MSP and sensitivity analyses suggest that the selling prices and harvesting production levels of clean chips and dirty chips, and purchase prices of forestry logging equipment are the key factors that most influence the profitability of the regional forest biomass feedstock supply chain.