6.4.1 Cost of bioenergy

Cost of Bioenergy can be disaggregated into 3 stages: resource cost, conversion technology cost, and secondary energy cost at consumer end.

Resource cost consists of not only cost of resource but also 1) opportunity cost (the value if biomass was used as material or food), 2) waste management cost for appropriate disposal, and 3) environment cost (environmental impact of biomass production).

Conversion technology cost is dependent on type of biomass input, type of technology, time frame of evaluation, and other factors.

Secondary energy (electricity, heat, fuel, and other forms that are converted from biomass resources) cost is calculated as summation of resource cost and conversion technology cost.

It is necessary to evaluate the cost of bioenergy with the latest information relating to energy cost, land use competition, available bioenergy technologies, externality of environment, and other aspects.