A GIS-based assessment of energy potential from biomass and waste for thermochemical biomethane in Ireland

Ireland's most recent Energy White Paper calls for a radical transformation of energy in Ireland and significant reductions of CO2 emissions. Biomethane production via a nationwide system of second-generation biomass... [ view full abstract ]

Ireland's most recent Energy White Paper calls for a radical transformation of energy in Ireland and significant reductions of CO2 emissions. Biomethane production via a nationwide system of second-generation biomass gasification and methanation, which is among the most promising biomass-to-energy conversion routes, can pave the way to an efficient and greener energy network, using the existing gas infrastructure. The implementation of this large-scale bioenergy system requires a preliminary assessment of the currently available resources suitable to the proposed technology.
This research presents a GIS-based nationwide assessment of resource capability to meet energy demand using ArcGIS. It will quantify the theoretical energy potentials of possible feedstocks and their distributions throughout the 3440 Electoral Divisions of Ireland. In addition to dedicated energy crops, wastes and by-products of different economic activities are considered. Waste material and by-products, which can offer 275 ktoe (thousand tonnes of oil equivalent) per year, comprise agriculture and forest residues, non-compostable non-recyclable, and digestate from anaerobic digestion facilities. Additionally, 11% of Ireland territory is under rough grazing of low economic value. If this land was devoted to cultivating energy crops, such as Miscanthus, it could supply 1500 ktoe per year, as a first estimate. For comparison, the current use of biomass and waste, through thermochemical conversion to energy is 231 ktoe, indicating the significance of the potential resource.
From this study will follow an uncertainty analysis of model inputs and a multi-criteria analysis for siting bioenergy plants, based on the economic and environmental optimisation of biomass supply chain.