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Abstract
Research suggests the generating potential from non-hydro renewables, particularly biomass, may be much greater than current use trends. In addition, the potential environmental and economic benefits may exceed traditional generation methods. Accordingly, the possibility of using Georgia’s biomass resources as a potential fuel source has caught the interest of Georgia’s farmers, the electric power industry, environmentalists, as well as the legislative community. The main concern relies on whether biomass-fueled power generation can be economically feasible, given current generation technology. As a result, the Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, at the University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, set out to determine the feasibility of electrical power generation from Georgia’s farm produced biomass resources. This study was partially funded by an appropriation of the Georgia legislature. This study analyzes four generation technologies in use today: direct-fire, co-fire, gasification, and pyrolysis. To determine the economy of scale impact, each technology was evaluated for three facilities that increased in size, input, and output magnitude.