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Title:
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Biomass Waste-to-Energy Toolkit for Development Practitioners
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Author(s):
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Cameron, L.R.; Mozaffarian, M.; Falzon, J.P.J.; Bole-Rentel, T.; Cohen, B.; Das, K.C.
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
Policy Studies
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10-10-2014
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-O--14-054
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Other
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Number of pages:
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Full text:
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88
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Download PDF
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Abstract:
Biomass residues already make an important contribution to meeting global energy demands and their role in the modern energy supply mix is likely to expand significantly in the future. Waste products from agricultural, forestry or industrial processes are often discarded or are used for basic services. Waste to energy projects allow greater value to be gained from these wastes and residues. They can play a role in addressing energy access challenges, providing opportunities for social and economic development in agricultural communities, contributing to local energy security, improving the management of resources and wastes and providing greenhouse gas savings and other environmental benefits.
By focusing on waste, a project developer or policymaker can ensure that activities are more likely to be more sustainable and are less likely to threaten food supplies or lead to encroachment into natural forests. Furthermore, biomass waste can offer a low cost source of energy that can be found in many places in good supply. Based on these facts, there is considerable scope to increase and improve the utilisation of biomass waste as a sustainable energy source, particularly in developing countries. Policy makers, investors and project developers therefore need a comprehensive decision support tool to design and implement biomass projects. However, there is a knowledge gap, and this has driven production of this toolkit by SNV and ECN; to help assess the feasibility of waste to energy projects.
The toolkit does not promote a one size fits all approach but provides a practitioner who is interested in developing a waste to energy project with relevant information and guidance to allow them to assess the feasibility of the project and improve its design. It is hoped that this toolkit will further help in the proliferation of activities to use wastes to produce energy and therefore achieve the multiple, economic, social and environmental benefits this can bring.
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