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| BIOMASS |
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| BIOMASS POTENTIAL |
Exploitation of biomass foe electricity generation is gaining a new momentum in Sri Lanka. The concept of biomass based electricity generation – commonly referred to as Dendro – holds much promise to Sri Lanka.
Biomass is the most common source of energy supply in the country, with the majority usage coming from the domestic sector for cooking purposes. Due to the abundant availability, only a limited portion of the total biomass usage is channelled through a market and hence the value of the energy sourced by biomass is not properly accounted.
Biomass comes in different forms. The most common forms in Sri Lanka are, fuel wood, municipal waste, industrial waste and agricultural waste.
Paddy is a main agricultural crop in Sri Lanka. There are over 0.76million ha of paddy across the country, and additionally, there are over 0.8 million ha of tea, rubber and coconut – which are major export crops. The potential power generation capacity from residue generated from these fields would be substantial.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is also considered a form of renewable energy falling the category of biomass. Considering the high rate of waste generation in urban and periurban Sri Lanka, and the comparatively slow process of disposing the same, it is safe to assume that there is a great potential to convert this waste to energy.
The potential in biomass is tremendous. However, the exact figures and statistics of this potential remain unknown. Therefore it is necessary to assess the type of bio resources, their respective quantities and points of origin on an island wide basis. It is also necessary to delineate a supply chain for biomass, identifying all the supply nodes, recipients, establishing retail centres, identifying quantities and respective storage options.
The SEA at present is conducting a study to assess the biomass resources in the country. The study would be completed by end-2010. The resource assessment programme is expected to cover the actual biomass resources on one part and the available land resources on the other part, which can be interpreted as the potential for grown fuelwood. |
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