Potential and Economic Evaluation of Biogas Resources and Location of its Power Plants with GIS in Iran

Abstract

Excessive consumption of fossil fuels has led to threats to energy reserves and environmental issues as two common concerns of today’s societies. On the other hand, renewable energy sources have been growing as alternative sources to reduce severe environmental problems such as global warming, climate change, and acid rain. As a result, it is necessary to assess the potential of renewable resources and the location of power plants related to them. Among renewable energies, biomass energy and biogas have a high status and importance, accounting for a significant share of energy production. Therefore, choosing a suitable location for biogas power plants in energy production and transmission, cost reduction, and environmental aspects. Today, the use of GIS has made it possible to integrate the information needed for location effectively. Therefore, in this study, while identifying the influential factors and criteria in the location of biogas power plants and the AHP hierarchical analysis process as one of the multi-criteria MCDSS decision-making methods to the location of biogas power plants in Iran, as one of the criticalroles in the production of agricultural biomass, livestock and poultry, and waste has been addressed. The results of the economic analysis showed that the construction of biogas power plants is justified in cities where the cost of the power plant is less than 0.098 USD per cubic meter of gas produced and the average cost of biomass is less than 0.0915 USD per cubic meter of synthetic gas.