A techno-economic assessment of a second generation biofuel concept for southern Thailand

Abstract

Biomass valorization concepts such as second generation biofuels aim at decreasing the dependency on limited fossil resources and reducing climate relevant CO2 emissions. Besides these aspects the elaboration of bioeconomy concepts offers great economic potentials all along the value chain. Accordingly, numerous process chains are discussed and developed. Crucial factors regarding the economic feasibility of such concepts are the availability and costs of the feedstock, i.e. the biogenic raw material. It is one central task to ensure the provision of the necessary amounts and qualities of biogenic raw material at reasonable costs. South-East Asian and Latin American countries open new opportunities through often large amounts of so far unused biogenic raw materials. The aim of this contribution is to carry out a techno-economic assessment of one promising second generation biofuel concept for southern Thailand and compare it with findings of similar studies for Germany.