The aim of the biomass gasification process is syngas production. It is a complicated chemical process during which fuel goes through pyrolysis, oxidation and reduction stages. Syngas composition and process behaviour depends on many different factors. Gasifier design, fuel properties and gasifier operation settings have dominant influence. This study presents a model to simulate the gasification process and describe biofuel moisture effect on process efficiency. Biomass torrefaction possibilities before gasification process were investigated. Acquired heat from the syngas cooling was used for torrefaction process in the model. Results show that the total efficiency of the gasification process can be increased using biomass torrefaction. However, there is some critical point of fuel moisture content when application of torrefaction process is reasonable

Production of biogas using bioresources of agricultural origin plays an important role in Europe's energy transition to sustainability and to a climate-neutral economy. The usage of some substrates like maize has been increasingly denounced in the last years and there is currently an active discussion about future subsidies to biogas producers depending on the substrate used. The aim of this study is to compare and rank different substrates for biogas production considering their economic feasibility, substrate efficiency and environmental aspects. During the research, eight substrates were evaluated: cattle manure, pig manure, poultry manure, straw, wood, maize silage, waste, and sewage sludge. In order to reach the research goal, multi-criteria analysis using TOPSIS methodology was applied to objectively determine which of the substrates considered would be the most suitable for biogas production in Latvia. The results obtained showed that pig manure is the most suitable raw material for biogas production in Latvia, while poultry manure was ranked second, with little difference in value from pig manure.