Biofuel for energy self-sufficiency in agricultural sector of Iran

Abstract

There is a great interest in the utilization of various renewable energy resources in the agricultural sector due to the production and consumption of limited fossil fuel resources and the ever-increasing energy demand in developing countries such as Iran. Investigation of agricultural production in various provinces of Iran revealed significant potential for bioenergy production in this sector including ethanol, butanol, methane, hydrogen, and biodiesel. Statistical data for each province including population, cultivated land area, energy and fertilizer consumption, and agricultural production rate were used to calculate CO2 emissions and bioenergy replacement potential.The energy demand, potential, and related CO2 emissions were computed and discussed. The energy demand in the agricultural sector was 36.2 TWh, 13.2 ktons, 2257.7 ktons, and 2408 Mm3 of electricity, kerosene, diesel, and natural gas, respectively. On the other hand, the potential of bioethanol, biodiesel and biogas was respectively 2.932×106m3, 0.44×106tons and 2.647×109m3. These biofuels are processed to replace fossil fuels. In the case of bioethanol and biogas, 10% of the calculated potential and total potential of biodiesel was assumed to be accessible. Accordingly, the potential to recover the bioethanol, biogas, and biodiesel demand is 100%, 11%, and 19.5%, respectively. In this scenario, the total CO2 emissions from the conventional energy system was 46.7 million tons per year, which can be decreased by 77.2% by changing the fuels.