Generation of Sustainable Energy from Agro‐Residues through Thermal Pretreatment for Developing Nations: A Review

Abstract

Energy is a prerequisite for any nation's industrial, social, and economic advancements. [1][2][3][4] Energy can broadly be categorized into renewable and nonrenewable energies. Nonrenewable energies are energy that cannot be replenished over a short period. Examples of such energy are coal, nuclear energy, natural gas, and crude oil. Renewable energies, in contrast, are those energies that are replenishable over a short period. This form of energy includes solar, hydro, tidal, wind, biomass energy, etc. Biomass energy is the energy generated from biomass materials. Biomass material could be woody (such as teak, mahogany), nonwoody (such as agro-residues, industrial waste), and animal materials. [5] Agroresidues are described as all organic materials that are generated as byproducts from agricultural activities. These byproducts constitute the main part of biomass feedstock's total annual production, which forms an essential and sustainable source of energy for industrial and domestic applications. [6] They are material that are of benefit to humankind, though their economic benefits are less than the cost of transformation for advantageous use. [7] Agro-residues can be divided into residues generated on the field and residues generated during the processing of agricultural products. [8] Field-based residues include but are not limited to tobacco stalks, maize stalks, sugar cane tops, rice straw, soybean straw/pods, and cocoa pods. In contrast, process-based include peanuts shell, rice husk, maize cob, bagasse, and coffee husk. Agro-residues are available in large quantities in an area with a high level of agricultural activities. [9] In developing nations, major agricultural activities are recorded in the rural areas, resulting in a larger quantity of agro-residues in these areas. [10,11] Most of the time, the farmers in developing nations' dump these residues in an open field or

A concise review of technologies for converting forest biomass to bioenergy

“…Notwithstanding the encouraging outcomes, power plants that depend on woody biomass pellets encounter a range of challenges. These include elevated energy consumption, a labor-intensive production process, comparatively higher prices compared to other solid biofuels, the requirement for larger storage capacity in comparison to oil, the necessity for ash removal, and the vulnerability of pellets to water exposure (Ibitoye et al, 2021).…”

Improving the Combustion Properties of Corncob Biomass via Torrefaction for Solid Fuel Applications

“…Residues generated from agricultural activities are likely to be one of the major favorable energy sources soon [6]. Literature has shown that the annual agricultural residues generated globally are approximately 2000 billion tons [7].…”

“…This is to mitigate some of the limitations associated with raw biomass-poor thermal efficiency, low energy and bulk densities, high moisture contents, environmental challenge, transportation, storage, etc. [6,10,11]. Several solutions have been proffered to eliminate biomass challenges for energy applications.…”

“…Several solutions have been proffered to eliminate biomass challenges for energy applications. These include thermal, physical, biological, and mechanical treatments [6,[12][13][14]. The thermal treatment is the process of heating biomass in an inert or oxygen-deficient environment.…”

“…The thermal treatment is the process of heating biomass in an inert or oxygen-deficient environment. Examples of thermal treatment are gasification, pyrolysis, carbonization, and torrefaction [6]. These treatment methods differ by their operating temperatures.…”