Energy Potential and Sustainability of Straw Resources in Three Regions of Ghana

Patience Afi Seglah,Hongyan Wang,Komikouma Apelike Wobuibe Neglo,Yuyun Bi,Chunyu Gao,Yajing Wang

doi:10.3390/su14031434

Abstract

Anthropogenic global warming and the depletion of nonrenewable resources necessitate a transition towards bioenergy to accelerate sustainable development and carbon neutrality. This study quantified the availability and energy potential of crop (cereals, legumes, roots and tubers) straws based on data from the Northern, North East and Savannah regions in Ghana. The annual technical straw potential was 2,967,933 tonnes, whilst the crop straws with the highest technical potential were yam (935,927 tonnes), groundnut (485,236 tonnes), maize (438,926 tonnes) and soybean (374,564 tonnes). The technical energy potential of all the crop straws was 42,256 TJ, although the energy potential of yam, groundnut, maize and soybean was 13,922 TJ, 7611 TJ, 5704 TJ and 5409 TJ, respectively. There was a linear correlation between the straw produced and the energy potential per region. The Northern region (28,153 TJ) recorded the highest energy potential followed by the Savannah (8330 TJ) and North East (5773 TJ) regions. To serve as context, the research placed an emphasis on the sustainability of crop straws for bioenergy and added a brief analysis of the life cycle assessment (LCA) of bioenergy scenarios to explore the environmental sustainability of crop straw-based power generation. This study will serve as a reference in understanding LCA inference on practicable research of crop straw-based, power plant expansion in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Highlights

Energy, the “lifeblood” of humanity, is essential for survival [1] and advancing socioeconomic development [2]
This study provides an environmental sustainability perspective on the utilization of biomass-based residues for bioenergy production using data from the Northern, North East and Savannah regions in Ghana
The Northern region (28,153 TJ) recorded the highest energy potential followed by the Savannah (8330 TJ) and the North East (5773 TJ) regions

Summary

Introduction

The “lifeblood” of humanity, is essential for survival [1] and advancing socioeconomic development [2]. Meeting the growing energy demand is a major challenge in the 21st century [3]. In as much as fossil fuels are the main source of energy, their incessant consumption is not sustainable [4]. The global energy demand is expected to increase by 41% in 2050. [5] sustainable energy needs to be the centre of attention [6]. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encourage all countries to be involved in ending poverty while safeguarding the world. The world is progressively devising more sustainable forms of renewable energy to accomplish “affordable and clean energy” (SDG 7). It is in this development that the United Nations approved

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion