TITLE:
Prospects of Bioenergy Production for Sustainable Rural Development in Ghana
AUTHORS:
Nii Nelson, Jo Darkwa, John Calautit
KEYWORDS:
Biomass, Bioenergy, Biofuel, Feedstock, Conversion Technologies
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems,
Vol.11 No.4,
December
24,
2021
ABSTRACT: Biomass supplies about 80% of the energy needs for
cooking and heating in rural Ghana. It is
predominantly used in traditional and inefficient forms (firewood and charcoal), which presents environmental and
health concerns. In order to better the living standard in rural Ghana, efforts
must be made to provide modern energy services. Most rural communities in Ghana
are so remote that an extension of the national grid is uneconomical, hence
biomass electricity provides a viable alternative. Biomass is pivotal to the
socio-economic development of rural Ghana due to its easy accessibility
and enormous potential in the production of varied energy forms. In this paper,
a comprehensive review of biomass resources, biomass energy conversion
technologies and bioenergy production potential for rural development in Ghana
is provided. The most important feedstock from an energy perspective was found
to be crop residues. Based on 2017 statistics, Ghana has a theoretical
potential of 623.84 PJ of energy from agricultural crop residues and 64.27 PJ
of energy from livestock production. Evidence from literature suggests that
biomass gasification is the best conversion technology to expand electricity
access rate for rural households in Ghana. The paper concludes that although
ample biomass resources exist, cocoa pod husks (CPH) which is very common in
rural Ghana can be pelletized and used as feedstock for rural power generation
systems.