Estimation of Electricity Production from Corn Residues: A Case Study of Nigeria

Abstract

Presently, Nigeria's energy security severely relies on costly imported fossil fuels. As a response to this constraint, the government is currently promoting research and development of renewable and sustainable energy. On a global scale, amidst global fossil fuel depletion situation and critical environmental pollution orchestrating from combustion of the fossil fuels, focus on renewable energy development is becoming unavoidable. Development of renewable energy is a desirable step towards minimizing the impact of fossil energy on the environment in the context of clean development mechanism. In this study, typical energy characteristics of biomass corn residues (cob, straw and stalk) were investigated in order to determine their suitability for power generation. Results indicated that the biofuel properties of the residues evidently presented the that they are suitable feedstock for power generation. In addition, the framework of the study also performs the estimation of bioenergy potential of the selected residues. It was found that with just 50% leftover availability factor (β LAF = 0.5), a significant amount of the national electricity demand can be met if the residues are utilized for rural electrification in the country.