Higher yields significantly decrease land required

Historically, the size of dedicated biopower facilities has been limited by the availability of raw materials -- primarily low-yielding woody biomass. Yields as low as 2 dry tons/acre per year make it nearly impossible to build facilities greater than 50 or 100 megawatts. In contrast, energy crops with significantly higher yields allow for much larger projects and can benefit from scale advantages (e.g., low heat rates).

Move the sliders to change the four variables and see how the area and radius change.*

*For general information purposes only.
Assumptions: annual capacity factor = 90%; BTUs per pound = 8,000.