What does “co-firing” mean?
“Co-firing” refers to the blending of biomass with coal in the furnace of a conventional coal-fired steam-cycle electric power plant. This is currently one of the simplest ways of utilizing biomass to displace fossil fuels, requiring no new investment or specialized technology. Between 5% and 15% biomass (by heat content) may be used in such facilities at an additional cost estimated at less than 0.5 cents/kWh (compared with coal-firing alone). Co-firing is known to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, sulphur dioxide (SOx) emissions, and potentially some emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) as well. Many electric utilities around the United States have experimented successfully with co-firing, using wood chips, urban waste wood and forestry residues.
