Towards renewable energy projects under sustainable watersheds principles for forest biomass supply

Abstract

The transition in the global energy matrix to sources of renewable electric generation has been the main demand of countries in the face of a state of climatic emergency. Forest biomass is a potential alternative to meet the growing demand. The expansion of thermoelectric projects based on forest residues highlights the need to assess raw materials' availability and land suitability. This is usually a problem of spatial decision and geographic intelligence under a holistic perspective since, in planning these projects, it is essential to understand the economic, environmental, and social feasibility. In this article, we propose a decision support system based on multi-criteria modeling on a GIS structure associated with a mathematical optimization model for zoning the suitability and availability of land for constructing thermoelectric power plants. The geospatial model for determining priority sites integrated various environmental, social, and economic criteria and constraints. The AHP method was used to weigh and estimate the relative importance weights of the criteria for modeling territorial aptitude. The results of the GIS stage formed the basis of a mixed-integer linear programming model that incorporated technical and economic aspects for a better allocation of financial resources. The minimized cost function included transport costs, harvesting, forestry, purchasing land/leasing land/forest outgrower schemes, and purchasing wood from the market to supply the biomass. We used a sizeable hydrographic basin in southeastern Brazil as a case study for the demonstration. The mapping of suitability and constrained zones identified the classes of preference and availability of land. The proposed mathematical model recognized sets of supply locations (new plantations or existing areas) and minimized the project's final cost to supply biomass to meet the demand of potential thermoelectric plants that are candidates for implementation. Despite the problem's large scale and the large data set, our findings indicated that we could provide a broad and multidimensional view of the potential of developing electrical generation systems based on forest biomass. The methodology and the model proposed in this study can be replicated in other global regions and modified to assess other resources from different biomasses and bioenergy systems. Our study promotes the UN's sustainable development goals, particularly SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).