Abstract
Biomass supplies about 80% of the energy needs for cooking and heating in rural Ghana. It is predominantly used in traditional and inefficient forms (firewood and charcoal), which presents environmental and health concerns. In order to better the living standard in rural Ghana, efforts must be made to provide modern energy services. Most rural communities in Ghana are so remote that an extension of the national grid is uneconomical, hence biomass electricity provides a viable alternative. Biomass is pivotal to the socio-economic development of rural Ghana due to its easy accessibility and enormous potential in the production of varied energy forms. In this paper, a comprehensive review of biomass resources, biomass energy conversion technologies and bioenergy production potential for rural development in Ghana is provided. The most important feedstock from an energy perspective was found to be crop residues. Based on 2017 statistics, Ghana has a theoretical potential of 623.84 PJ of energy from agricultural crop residues and 64.27 PJ of energy from livestock production. Evidence from literature suggests that biomass gasification is the best conversion technology to expand electricity access rate for rural households in Ghana. The paper concludes that although ample biomass resources exist, cocoa pod husks (CPH) which is very common in rural Ghana can be pelletized and used as feedstock for rural power generation systems.
Highlights
Ghana’s energy sector faces two main challenges; the inability to provide decent power supply, and the upsurge in the use of woodfuel as the principal cooking fuel for families with no access to modern cooking fuels [1]
The paper concludes that ample biomass resources exist, cocoa pod husks (CPH) which is very common in rural Ghana can be pelletized and used as feedstock for rural power generation systems
Rural communities far from the national grid are principal candidates for stand-alone and mini-grid systems as they have been found to be an economical means of connecting the rural populations instead of main grid extension [13]. As most of these rural communities in Ghana are involved in agriculture and produce huge amounts of biomass resources, bioenergy development could be promoted as an energy security and rural development strategy [14]
Summary
Ghana’s energy sector faces two main challenges; the inability to provide decent power supply, and the upsurge in the use of woodfuel as the principal cooking fuel for families with no access to modern cooking fuels [1]. The insufficient and unreliable rainfall patterns due to climate variability have resulted in low water influx into the hydroelectric power dams, leading to the dominance of thermal power usage in Ghana Other challenges such as high levels of transmission losses and the remoteness of some rural communities have necessitated the need to decentralize the power supply in Ghana [3] [10] [12]. Rural communities far from the national grid are principal candidates for stand-alone and mini-grid systems as they have been found to be an economical means of connecting the rural populations instead of main grid extension [13] As most of these rural communities in Ghana are involved in agriculture and produce huge amounts of biomass resources, bioenergy development could be promoted as an energy security and rural development strategy [14]. It is anticipated that the outcome of this review will provide a baseline for further research on the application of biomass conversion technologies on specific biomass resources
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