Biomass

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15 (2011) 471–481

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Biomass gasification: Still promising? A 30-year global overview
Arjan F. Kirkels *, Geert P.J. Verbong
School of Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MBEindhoven, Netherlands

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history: Received 31 August 2010 Accepted 15 September 2010 Keywords: Biomass gasification Global overview Technology assessment Niche markets

Over the past decades biomass gasification has been regarded as a very promising technology, because of the large potential and the option of advanced applications. In this paper a30-year overview is presented of the worldwide development of biomass gasification as part of the more general field of gasification, based on both literature and science and technology indicators. The first period of development until the mid-80s is characterized by large interest in coal gasification and domination by the USA. The second period relates more to biomass gasification. It starts in themid-1990s and is dominated by Europe, although China and Japan are coming up strongly. The technology has been successful in a few niche markets, but largely remains confined to RD&D niches. High-end applications like IGCC and transport fuels have received major interest in research and development. However, biomass gasification is not yet mature enough to be widely applied in the market. It is still ina stage of variation and there has been no dominant design yet. In most markets it is unable to compete with other technologies. We do not expect a breakthrough on the short term, a gradual niche development seems much more likely. ß 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents 1. 2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theoretical framework and methodology. 2.1.Evolutionary framework . . . . . . . . . 2.2. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gasification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biomass gasification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2. Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3. Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4. Conclusions . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . Science and technology indicators . . . . . . 5.1. Dynamics: intensity over time . . . . 5.2. Relevant countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3. Companies and institutes . . . . . . . . 5.4. Gasification technologies . . . . . . . . 5.5. Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusions and discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 6.2. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....