Abstract
The northern zone of Costa Rica has extensive forestry and agro-industrial development, which generates a large number of lignocellulosic residues that do not have an economic value but could represent a vast energy potential. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the optimal size and location of an electricity generation plant from the forest and agro-industrial biomass. The researchers worked with two forest species residues (Gmelina arborea and Tectona grandis) and two agro-industrial residues (Ananas comosus and Saccharum officinarum), representing the most extensive cultivations in the region. The material was characterized, then GIS layers of the species cultivation areas were analyzed and related to the roads and protected areas to define the twelve potential points where the power plant should be installed. Later, the optimal supply radius of the plant and the optimal site conditions were determined. The study determined that the tree species have an average caloric power of 19,059.50 kJ/kg, significantly higher than agro-industrial (16,684.9 kJ/kg). It was determined that 1,056,527.67 tons of dry biomass are generated per year; 6.5% arboreal and 79.97% from A. comosus. The minimum electricity generation capacity is 15 MW with an annual consumption of 102,300 tons, which are available between 15 and 100 km away from the sites. The southeast area was the best positioned because of the biomass source and optimal environmental conditions for establishing the power plant.
Highlights
Lignocellulosic biomass is defined as dry plant origin material [1], considered a viable alternative energy source to fossil fuels and natural gas [2]
It was determined that 1,056,527.67 tons of dry biomass are generated per year, 6.5% of the biomass is arboreal, and 79.97% comes from A. comosus
For A. comosus, it was implemented the georeferenced layer (GIS) of crop distribution developed by PRIAS in 2019, while the information of S. officinarum came from the study of Chaves and Chavarría [18]
Summary
Lignocellulosic biomass is defined as dry plant origin material [1], considered a viable alternative energy source to fossil fuels and natural gas [2]. The ease of generation of biomass from agro-industrial and forestry crops, the low CO2 emission, the simplicity of storage and use and management together with the energy potential of productive residues [3]; make the biomass an optimal energy source for developing countries that have large agro-industrial and productive forestry areas [4]. The cost of energy from biomass varies related to the technology used and based material. Sometimes its low cost is because residues from a productive system that do not have an economic value are used. If not used for energy production, the residues would be burned, sent to landfills, or buried [7]
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