Sustainable second-generation biofuel production potential in a developing country case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Iran is the fourth biggest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. Meanwhile, this country is the largest CO2 emitter among the Middle East countries and 99% of energy in this country is produced from nonrenewable-based resources. Nevertheless, Iran has a promising potential to generate energy from its renewable resources such as biomass. Therefore, renewable energy generation can contribute to increasing the renewable energy share in the country’s energy generation and mitigating the environmental impacts. Thus, the aim of this research was to evaluate the second generation biofuel production potential in Guilan province (as one of the important agricultural areas in the region) of Iran. In this research, energy generation from cow manure, poultry manure, municipal solid wastes, rice wastes, and peanut wastes were studied. The results showed that the total energy generation from second-generation biomass resources in Guilan province of Iran was 76,523,985.50 GJ year−1. The yearly potential of energy generation from cow manure, poultry manure, municipal solid wastes, rice wastes, and peanut wastes were 2,284,529, 352,138, 648,523, 73,238,768, and 27 GJ, respectively. In conclusion, there is a remarkable potential to generate energy from second-generation biomass resources in Guilan province of Iran.