Using Biofuels for Highly Renewable Electricity Systems: A Case Study of the Jatropha curcas

Petr Procházka, Lubos Smutka and Vladimír Hönig
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Petr Procházka: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
Vladimír Hönig: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: Recent movements for the decarbonization of the electricity sector have become a priority for many countries around the world and will inevitably lead to the sharp decline of fossil-fuel-based energy. Energy from fossil fuels is to be replaced by renewable energy sources (RES), although the transition will neither be cheap nor smooth. One sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels and which will take a considerable share in the increasing supply of renewable energy resources is biofuels. There are various types of biofuels used in practice; however, biodiesels represent one of the most popular and widespread ones. This paper focuses as a case study on the byproducts of Jatropha curcas , a crop and a plant that is already used for biofuel production and which is subsequently employed in electricity generation in Jatropha curcas producing regions. This paper identifies the limitations and prospects of Jatropha curcas utilization. Also, Jatropha curcas is compared to other materials suitable for biomass generation. An economic analysis for a 2 MW biofuel powerplant was conducted incorporating various market-related risks. The study shows that at current prices, net profitability can be achieved using Jatropha curcas byproducts for producing electricity.

Keywords: renewable energy; biofuels; electricity generation; power sector; biomass; Jatropha curcas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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