Technoeconomic assessment of beetle kill biomass co-firing in existing coal fired power plants in the Western United States

Widespread mortality of forests in the western United States due to a bark beetle epidemic provides a source of biomass for power generation. This study assessed availability and economics of co-firing beetle kill biomass with coal in power plants in the western U.S. Since biomass may be considered carbon neutral under careful management, co-combustion of biomass with coal provides power plants a way to meet emission reduction requirements, such as those in the EPA Clean Power Plan (CPP). Cost has been a barrier to co-firing, but the economics are altered by emission reduction requirements, such as CPP guidelines. The present study assessed beetle kill biomass availability in national forests in Wyoming and Colorado through Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) data. Power plants near beetle kill mortality were identified as candidates for co-firing. An economic assessment of costs to implement co-firing was conducted. Co-firing reduces the need for the USFS to manage beetle kill trees when they are harvested for energy use, and these mitigated treatment costs were considered as an effective subsidy of co-firing. The results of this analysis include beetle kill availability, costs, and annual CO2 emissions reductions that can be met by co-firing.