# Research Trends and Future Direction for Utilization of Woody Biomass in Japan
## 6 Economic Evaluation of Woody Biomass Utilization
### Cost Analysis of Woody Biomass Heat Utilization  
Woody biomass heat utilization is primarily focused on the small-scale utilization in public facilities. Various types of facilities and fuels were available. Therefore, qualitative economic evaluation is challenging. Existing research has mainly focused on the cost analysis of heat utilization. The initial and running costs of wood biomass heat utilization, as estimated in the reviewed papers, are shown in Table 8 (where multiple scenarios exist, each scenario is considered as one case). The initial and running costs per unit output scale were calculated to compare the results of each study. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline Paper No. & \begin{tabular}{c} Selling price of heating \\ [JPY/kWh] \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} Scale of power \\ generation [kW] \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} Scale of heating \\ [kW] \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} Judgment criteria for \\ feasible conditions \\ \end{tabular} & Reference \\ \hline
1 & N.A. & Variable & N.A. &
\begin{tabular}{c} Balance of income and \\ expenditure \\ \end{tabular} & [59] \\
4 & 5.2 & Variable & Variable & Payback period \& IRR & [58] \\
5 & N.A. & 40 & N.A. &
\begin{tabular}{c} IRR \\ \end{tabular} & [61] \\
2 & N.A. & Variable & N.A. &
\begin{tabular}{c} Payback period \& Fuel \\ price \\ \end{tabular} & [57] \\
3 & 6 & 1815 & Variable & Payback period \& IRR & [60] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* PG: Power generation; W.B.: Wet basis; 1 USD = 116.49 JYP (1 January 2017); 1 USD = 115.02 JYP (1 January 2022); 1 USD = 141.83 JYP (1 January 2024); N.A.: Not applicable.  
\end{table} 
Table 7: _Cont._ \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Case** \\ **No.** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Year** \\ **Year** \\ \end{tabular} } & \begin{tabular}{c} **Utilization** \\ **Facilities** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Scale** \\ **[kW]** \\ \end{tabular} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Fuel Type**} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Fuel Price** \\ **[JPY/t]** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Running** \\ **Cost** \\ **[k JPY/year]** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Initial** \\ **Cost** \\ **[k JPY/t]** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Initial** \\ **Cost** \\ **[k JPY/t]** \\ \end{tabular} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Reference**} \\ \hline
1 & 2012 & Hot spring & 200 & Chip & 10,000 & 4060 & 20.8 & 23,400 & 117.0 & [62] \\
2 & 2012 & Hot spring & 200 & Chip & 12,000 & 5808 & 19.8 & 28,900 & 144.5 & [62] \\
3 & 2012 &
\begin{tabular}{c} Nursing \\ home \\ \end{tabular} & 290 & Chip & 10,000 & 1629 & 21.9 & 28,950 & 99.8 & [62] \\
4 & 2012 &
\begin{tabular}{c} Nursing \\ home \\ \end{tabular} & 290 & Chip & 12,000 & 2294 & 20.5 & 34,950 & 120.5 & [62] \\
5 & 2012 &
\begin{tabular}{c} Agricultural \\ facilities \\ \end{tabular} & 116 & Chip & 10,000 & 554 & 26.6 & 16,000 & 137.9 & [62] \\
6 & 2012 &
\begin{tabular}{c} Agricultural \\ facilities \\ \end{tabular} & 116 & Chip & 12,000 & 740 & 23.6 & 20,500 & 176.7 & [62] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
\end{table} 
Table 8: Cost structure of wood biomass heat utilization. The initial and running costs of wood biomass heat utilization vary significantly, depending on the facility and fuel type. The initial costs for DHSs and residences were notably high--approximately three times higher than those for other facilities. This is attributed to the substantial piping expenses associated with DHSs and residences. In Cases 8 and 15 shown in Table 8, the piping costs constituted more than 90% of the initial cost. In contrast, the running costs for DHSs and residences were lower than those for other facilities, primarily because of economies of scale resulting from large-scale heat utilization [63]. Additionally, the initial cost of facilities using firewood or pellets is lower than that of facilities using chips.