Production Cost of Biocarbon and Biocomposite, and Their Prospects in Sustainable Biobased Industries

Poritosh Roy (), Arturo Rodriguez-Uribe, Amar K. Mohanty, Devashish Pujari (), Mike Tiessen, Atul Bali and Manjusri Misra
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Poritosh Roy: School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Arturo Rodriguez-Uribe: Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre, Department of Plant Agriculture, Crop Science Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Amar K. Mohanty: School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Devashish Pujari: DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON LS8 4M4, Canada
Mike Tiessen: Competitive Green Technologies, 7 Seneca Rd., Leamington, ON N8H 5P2, Canada
Atul Bali: Competitive Green Technologies, 7 Seneca Rd., Leamington, ON N8H 5P2, Canada
Manjusri Misra: School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: This study evaluated the economic prospects of biocarbon and biocomposite in the automotive industry and bioeconomy. The production cost of biocarbon produced from Miscanthus (a perennial grass), biocarbon-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composite (hereafter referred to as biocomposite), and automotive components are determined. The production cost of biocomposite was compared with inorganic filler-reinforced polymer composite (a conventional composite, i.e., talc reinforced PP composite). The production cost of biocarbon and biocomposite is estimated to be $513.1/ton and between $3536.7–$3647.3/ton, respectively (all dollar figures are in Canadian dollars). On the other hand, the cost of the conventional composite is likely to be $3544.8/ton. However, the production cost of an automotive component can be reduced by 9–11% compared with the conventional component if the components are produced from biocomposite. Further, this study determined the net present values (NPV) of a biocarbon plant and a composite manufacturing plant. The NPV of a biocarbon plant ($42.9 million) and a composite manufacturing plant ($34.0–$34.8 million for biocomposite and $34.7 million for conventional composite) showed that both the biocarbon and composite manufacturing phases are economically attractive. We concluded that by taking an industrial symbiosis approach, the biocomposite industry can be financially more attractive and contribute more to the bioeconomy.

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass; Miscanthus; pyrolysis; biocarbon; polypropylene (PP); biocomposite; conventional composite; automotive component; life cycle cost; economic prospects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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