Bioelectric Power Potential Analysis of Agricultural Crop Residues: A Case Study of Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria belongs to the League of Nations in the growing economies list in the world and consequently, needed more infrastructural support from different developmental sectors such as the power. Insufficient electricity generation has been a major obstacle to the expected progression in the economic development indices. On a global scale, there has been a growing quest for increasing access to sustainable energy technologies, especially from renewable energy sources. Presently, Nigeria generates over 5000 MW of electricity for a population of over 200 million people. This has created serious techno-economic constrictions in the country. The country has vast potential for renewable energy especially biomass agricultural residues, but the residues have remained largely untapped. Therefore, this study analyzed the electrical potential of biomass agricultural residues in Nigeria. It also presents the varieties of technological perspectives that can be embraced to utilize the residues for power generation in the future. The research is to encourage the use of biomass residues for renewable energy based on sustainable technological approaches. The results obtained presented that as much as approximately 30 TWh of electrical energy can be generated annually from the seven different kinds of biomass agricultural residues investigated.