Life Cycle Costs and Life Cycle Assessment for the Harvesting, Conversion, and the Use of Switchgrass to Produce Electricity
Table 2
The estimated costs of establishing switchgrass and GHG [30–34].
The switchgrass
Preharvest machinery operations custom charges
$/ha
Diesel (gal/ha)
Diesel cost $/ha
CO2 (kg)
N2O
CH4
Estimate CO2 equivalent/ha
Disk
31.01
3.46 (13.10 L/ha)
12.97
37.10
0.0152
0.0020
41.85
Harrow
19.10
1.24 (4.69 L/ha)
4.63
13.25
0.0054
0.0007
14.95
Airflow spreader (seed and fertilizers)
31.26
1.48 (5.60 L/ha)
5.56
15.90
0.0065
0.0009
17.93
Spraying chemicals
8.28
0.49 (1.85 L/ha)
1.85
5.30
0.0022
0.0003
5.98
Total
89.65
6.67 (25.25 L/ha)
25.02
71.56
0.0292
0.0039
80.70
Operating expense
Price $/unit
Unit/ha
$/ha
Seed
$7.5/lb ($16.5/kg)
14.83 lb (6.74 kg)
111.20
Fertilizer*
N
$0.31/lb ($0.68/kg)
264.55 lb (120.25 kg)
82.01
5.05
1.20
1590.94
P
$0.37/lb ($0.81/kg)
74.13 lb (33.70 kg)
27.43
K
$0.23/lb ($0.51/kg)
98.84 lb (44.93 kg)
22.73
Lime
$21/ton
7.41 ton
155.68
Herbicides**
79.8
Pursuit +
$53/gal ($14.00/L)
7.41 oz (0.22 L)
3.06
MSO
$1.75/pt ($3.70/L)
79.07 oz (2.34 L)
8.65
2,4D
$16/gal ($4.23/L)
3.71 pts (1.76 L)
7.41
Total operating costs
418.17 $/ha
Total establishment (11 years at 8% amortization (.14008 factor))
532.84 $/ha
Prorated yearly establishment cost per ha
72.99 $/ha
*The application of nitrogen fertilizer leads to the formation of nitrous oxide emissions from the soil which leads to emission of GHG.
**The emission of GHG from application of herbicide on a field.
