Estimating the Potential Energy Yield from the Use of Woody Invasive Species as Feedstocks for Biomass Gasification in Southeast Michigan

Abstract

Small-scale biomass gasification presents apromisingopportunity for distributed renewable energy generation, particularly in rural areas.The use of woody invasive plant species as feedstocks facilitates this generation without the reliance on dedicated energy crops or agricultural residues from monocultures, particularly in Michigan. Further, an opportunity is created to manage the ecological harm caused by woody invasive plant species while simultaneously co-producing biochar, which has the potential tosequester carbon and act as a soil amendment. The potential electrical energy yield from gasification must be understood and contextualized both with respect to the scale of impact, and a cost-benefit analysis. In this work, honeysuckle and buckthorn collected in southeast Michigan were used as separate feedstocks for biomass gasification. They were used in a small-scale Imbert gasifier and separate trials captured the percent composition of the produced syngas. The LHV for syngas produced using honeysuckle was found to be 6.6 ± 2.4 MJ/kg and 6.0 ± 1.8 MJ/kg for syngas produced using buckthorn. The gasification efficiency for the conversion of dry honeysuckle to syngas was 56 ± 23 % and 51 ± 18 % for the conversion of dry buckthorn to syngas. Finally, given assumptions about the amount of these species available in Michigan, a potential 0.34 –0.37. TWh of energy could be yielded from honeysuckle or buckthorn respectively, enough to supply electricity to over 6,500 homes in the state for a year.