Assessment of biomass energy resources potential in Pakistan for power generation

Abstract

Abstract-Pakistan is facing severe economic crises due to continuous increasing gap between energy demand and supply. Demand is increasing exponentially and expected to increase more than 66000 MW by 2030 while the supply is observed to remain constant over the last few years due to frozen capacity in spite of having significant renewable/alternate energy resources. Current electricity shortfall has reached up to 6000 MW. This paper investigates the potential of two major biomass energy resources available in Pakistan: Livestock and Bagasse. These resources, if utilized to their full extent for power generation, can contribute up to 42% in the current scenario. The biomass resource quantification is done along with its environmental impact assessment in terms of methane emissions pre and post production of biogas. Economic appeal of biomass energy is demonstrated by a comparative cost analysis among heavy fuel oil, natural gas and biomass (i.e. dung). The ongoing policies and incentives on biomass energy usage, and bottlenecks in making the biomass a component of energy portfolio of Pakistan are also reviewed. The outcomes of this paper might also be applicable to other developing countries having similar resources.

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“…The national power policy 2013 stipulated to produce 83 MW of electricity from bagasse. Letter of Intents (LOIs) have been issued to different bagasse based power plants by Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) such Biomass to energy power plant at Jhang, Faisalabad Punjab, at Mirpurkhas, Sindh and at Mardan Khyber Phakhtunkhua (Farooqui, 2014;Perwez and Sohail, 2014;Zuberi et al, 2013).…”

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“…Cattle and buffaloes have a cumulative population of around 0.73 million. As per the methodology presented by Zuberi et al [7] and Amjid et al [23], these animals producing 10 kg of manure per animal on an average daily basis would result in 7.3 million kg of dung per day. According to an estimate, about 20 kg wet biomass of dung can generate 1 m 3 of biogas [7], therefore if half of the manure is collected and utilized for biogas generation, 0.18 million m 3 of biogas can be produced daily.…”

“…As per the methodology presented by Zuberi et al [7] and Amjid et al [23], these animals producing 10 kg of manure per animal on an average daily basis would result in 7.3 million kg of dung per day. According to an estimate, about 20 kg wet biomass of dung can generate 1 m 3 of biogas [7], therefore if half of the manure is collected and utilized for biogas generation, 0.18 million m 3 of biogas can be produced daily. The biogas being produced by the plants in Pakistan is estimated to have the following composition: Methane (CH 4 ) 60-70%; Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) 30-35%; Nitrogen (N 2 ) 1%; Hydrogen (H 2 ) 0.1-0.5%; Carbon Monoxide (CO) 0.1%; and Hydrogen Sulfide (H 2 S) in trace amounts [7].…”

“…This model is developed based on the methodology followed by Zuberi et al [7] and focuses on livestock waste as the only source for power generation. The total amount of animal waste (manure) produced per day can be calculated using the following equation:…”

“…They identify areas which require attention from local government for establishing and improving biomass energy production and delivery systems. Zuberi et al [7] concluded that biomass resources in Pakistan are capable of contributing 42% to the power portfolio of the country.…”