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Increasing Access to Electricity: an Assessment of the Energy and Power Generation Potential from Biomass Waste Residues in Tanzania

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Increasing Access to Electricity: an Assessment of the Energy and Power Generation Potential from Biomass Waste Residues in Tanzania energies Article Increasing Access to Electricity: An Assessment of the Energy and Power Generation Potential from Biomass Waste Residues in Tanzania Zahida Aslam 1,*, Hu Li 2 , James Hammerton 2, Gordon Andrews 2, Andrew Ross 2 and Jon C. Lovett 3 1 School of Chemical and Process Engineering and Centre for Doctoral Training in Bioenergy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK 2 Faculty of Engineering, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK; [email protected] (H.L.); [email protected] (J.H.); [email protected] (G.A.); [email protected] (A.R.) 3 School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Tanzania has a high rural population, of which many rely on off-grid diesel generators to produce electricity. The focus of this paper is to assess if the waste biomass residues in Tanzania have sufficient energy potential to produce renewable electrical energy for small-scale electricity generation using off-grid diesel generators coupled with anaerobic digestion (AD) and/or gasification. The gaseous fuel produced can then be used to substitute diesel fuel used in small-scale dual fuel diesel gen-sets; thus, providing more affordable electricity whilst reducing dependency on fossil fuels. The biomass waste streams estimated are those arising from agriculture, forestry, livestock, and urban human waste. To answer this question, the energy potentials of each of these biomass waste streams Citation: Aslam, Z.; Li, H.; Hammerton, J.; Andrews, G.; Ross, A.; are quantified, followed by further calculations to determine the electricity generation capacity per Lovett, J.C. Increasing Access to stream based on overall efficiencies of 10 and 25%. The results show that combined these waste Electricity: An Assessment of the streams have an energy potential of 385 PJ (for the base year of 2018) generated from 26,924 kilotonnes Energy and Power Generation Potential (kt). Collectively, these residues can produce at least 1.2 times the electricity generated nationally in from Biomass Waste Residues in 2018 using AD and gasification coupled with a diesel gen-set engine. Tanzania. Energies 2021, 14, 1793. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061793 Keywords: biomass; energy potential; electrification; gasification; anaerobic digestion; Tanzania Academic Editors: Tapas Mallick and Biagio Morrone 1. Introduction Received: 10 February 2021 Access to electricity is a globally recognised requirement to eradicate poverty and has Accepted: 17 March 2021 Published: 23 March 2021 been chosen by the United Nations as a “sustainable development goal”, which has been defined as “Goal 7: ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral for all” [1]. Hence, access to electricity is pivotal in achieving this as many basic human with regard to jurisdictional claims in activities rely solely on electricity as other forms of energy cannot be used as a substitute. published maps and institutional affil- Such examples include lighting, refrigeration, running of household appliances, etc. iations. Tanzania is considered to be a “least developed country” by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and has a large growing population of 56.32 million as recorded in 2018 [2]. Only 35.6% of the total population have access to electricity [3]; this equates to over 36 million people living in Tanzania without any access to electricity. In 2018, Tanzania had a rural population of 66.2%, with only 18.8% of this rural Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. population having access to electricity [4,5]. Thus, lack of access to clean modern energy This article is an open access article supplies is most acute in rural areas. Moreover, even for those with electricity, the supplies distributed under the terms and are intermittent and unreliable [6,7]. conditions of the Creative Commons Many African governments, including Tanzania, recognise that one of the most eco- Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// nomical methods of increasing electrification rates (especially within rural areas) is not creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ by network grid expansions, but by utilising renewable energy sources, specifically mini 4.0/). and off-grid solutions [7]. For example, Bertheau et al. [8] consider that incorporating Energies 2021, 14, 1793. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14071793 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies Energies 2021, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 22 Many African governments, including Tanzania, recognise that one of the most eco- Energies 2021, 14, 1793 nomical methods of increasing electrification rates (especially within rural areas) is not2 of by 22 network grid expansions, but by utilising renewable energy sources, specifically mini and off-grid solutions [7]. For example, Bertheau et al. [8] consider that incorporating photo- photovoltaicvoltaic (PV) and (PV) storage and storage systems systems with existing with existing diesel-based diesel-based off grid off systems grid systems can lead can to significantlead to significant cost reductions cost reductions in electricity in electricity generation generation by this bymethod this method in Tanzani in Tanzania.a. To facili- To tatefacilitate this, favourable this, favourable governmental governmental policies, policies, economics, economics, and training and training are required are required to facil- to itatefacilitate the uptake the uptake of renewable of renewable energy energy opportunities. opportunities. In general, In general, energy energy policies policies are quite are quitewell developed well developed in Tanzania; in Tanzania; however, however, some sectors some sectors require require furtherfurther development, development, partic- particularly,ularly, the biomass the biomass and andoff-grid off-grid sectors sectors [9] [. 9Government]. Government policies policies and and agencies agencies exist exist in Tanzania whichwhich support support rural rural electrification electrification and and the usethe ofuse local of renewablelocal renewable energy sources.energy Thesources. Rural The Energy Rural Agency Energy (REA) Agency was (REA) established was established in 2005 to focusin 2005 on to rural focus electrification. on rural elec- In trification.conjunction In with conjunction other organisations, with other theorganisations, REA has promoted the REA off-grid has promoted electrification off-grid projects elec- trificationas decentralised projects solutions as decentralised ranging fromsolutions 1 to 10 ranging MW [9 from]. The 1 Ruralto 10 MW Electrification [9]. The Rural Program Elec- trificationProspectus Program developed Prospectus by the REA developed states that by for the rural REA communities, states that for the rural focus communities, is to increase theelectrification focus is to byincrease using electrification off-grid technologies by usingwhere off-grid isolated technologies mini-grids where are iso suppliedlated mini by- gridsrenewable are supplied energy sources by renewable or hybrid energy systems. sources The or focus hybrid is on systems. mini-grids The associated focus is on with mini hy-- gridsdro and associated biomass with gasifiers hydro plants and or biomass hybrid PVgasifiers systems plants to settlements/villages/households or hybrid PV systems to settle- ments/villages/householdslocated 10 km or more from located the main 10 grid km [or9]. more To date, from 6 MW the main of solar grid PV [9] has. To been date, installed 6 MW ofin solar Tanzanian PV has communities been installed [9 in]. Tanzanian Other approved communities small power[9]. Other producer approved agreements small power for produisolatedcer mini-grids agreements were for associated isolated mini with-grids solar were (2 MW), associated three biomass with solar plants (2 MW), (5.1 MW), three and bi- omass2 hydropower plants (5.1 projects MW), [and10]. 2 Figure hydropower1 shows projects that the [10] existing. Figure power 1 shows grid that connects the existing more powerdensely grid populated connects urban more regions, densely whereas populated mini-grids urban are regions, sparsely whereas distributed mini across-grids rural are sparselyareas of Tanzaniadistributed [11 across]. rural areas of Tanzania [11]. Figure 1. Population distribution in Tanzania in relation to existing powerpower gridgrid andand minimini gridsgrids [[11]11].. Energies 2021, 14, 1793 3 of 22 For those relying on electricity generated by off-grid diesel generators the fuel costs are high, so these off-grid systems have a substantially higher running cost per kWh than grid- connected systems [7,8,12]. In 2013, it was estimated that energy generated nationally from off-grid private diesel-based generation was 300 MW [9,12]. High cost and dependency on fossil fuels of off-grid diesel generators are impediments to sustainable and economic development, especially in rural areas [8]. Moreover, 80% of Tanzanians still utilise biomass (firewood, charcoal, etc.) as a source of energy [13]. Whether burnt indoors or outdoors, the smoke produced is a pollutant linked to adverse health, in particular respiratory diseases which disproportionately affect women and children [12]. Those residing in the cooler climate of the southern highland regions of Tanzania, often cook indoors, thus increasing exposure to smoke pollutants [14]. This study looks at the potential for producing electricity by utilising existing equipment commonly used for small-scale
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