Economic analysis of converting of waste agricultural biomass into liquid fuel: A case study on a biofuel plant in China

Liquid fuel from pyrolysis of waste agricultural biomass has great potential to replace petroleum. In this work, an economic analysis has been carried out to study the production cost of liquid fuel from biomass pyrolysis and economic feasibility of a biofuel plant with a feedstock feeding rate of 4000 kg h−1 in China. The results have shown that the production cost of liquid fuel is 1748 yuan per ton, which is less than the expected selling price of pyrolysis liquid fuel (2100 yuan per ton). The liquid fuel production cost is highly sensitive to the liquid fuel yield and unit feedstock cost. The payback period of the biofuel plant with 100% equity financing is about six years. With an internal rate of return of 13%, the biofuel plant would be financially viable if it earns revenues from both liquid fuel and char. If 50% or 30% debt financing is considered, the positive net present value of the biofuel plant would appear at the seventh and eighth year. The results will be helpful for the commercial production and application of liquid fuel from biomass pyrolysis.