The need to use alternative energy sources is driven by the continued rise in fossil fuel price, increasing population and energy demand most particularly in a developing country like the Philippines. Biomass resources such as sugarcane residues provide alternative means to utilize its untapped potential for renewable energy. The use of remote sensing technology and geographic information system enables detailed assessment on the quantification of its distribution, abundance and quality that will yield an effective and efficient use of its potential. Available energy potential measurement was conducted in the town of Medellin, part of Bogo-Medellin mill district, in the northern region of Cebu province. The calculation was assessed using the remote sensing technology of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. This baseline valuation serves as primary input to obtain detailed resource information on specific cultivation land areas for sugarcane with the aid of GIS-based calculations. The calculation considered crop yield, residue-to-product ratio, cultivation area, moisture content and heating value of the crop for a detailed resource assessment. The results revealed the georeferenced location of specific sugarcane residue energy potential in the town of Medellin. The RS-GIS approach in biomass energy potential estimation provides a cost effective way to obtain the overview of spatial variation in agricultural bioresource of the locality.

The increasing demand for energy accounts for an alternative energy source. The search for biomass being abundant in an agricultural country is a suitable option to power a community. This paper used Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which includes the organized hierarchy of various selection criteria, the assessment of the relative value of criteria, the comparison and an aggregate rating of the alternatives for each criterion. Specifically, the methodology used was the combination of multi-criteria and weighted-overlay analysis in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment to provide a spatial overview of the sustainable location for sugarcane residues production in Medellin, Cebu. The study was able to identify Caputatan Sur and Canhabagat as sustainable locations for sugarcane residue production with respect to topography, cultivation area and accessibility. These locations represent 26% of the total cultivation area and average sugarcane production of the locality. The result of this study is an initial step in the support for the utilization of sugarcane residues to answer energy demand in remote areas and further promote the use of indigenous resources for energy generation.