GIS-based spatially integrated bioenergy resources assessment in Kurdistan Province-Northwest Iran

Excessive use of fossil fuels leads to numerous environmental problems in human life. These problems encompass the growth in greenhouse gases, global warming, and deterioration of air quality, climate change, oil spills, and acid rain. Accordingly, renewable energy sources have become more attractive since they do not produce such pollution and negative effects compared to fossil fuels. In this study, the bioenergy resources in Kurdistan province, Iran are assessed and the bioenergy map is developed. Bioenergy power potentials of Kurdistan province have been estimated to be approximately 4 million MWh per year. This amount of power can be compared with 450 MW thermal power plants. The biomass production capacity in Kurdistan can also be compared with the combined cycle power plant in Sanandaj. The results of these comparisons indicate the enormous potentials of biomass resources that have been neglected in Kurdistan thus far. In the present work, we are studying different sources of bioenergy, including agricultural residues, wood residues, livestock waste, sewage, and municipal wastes. In each category, the existing data and information are employed, and a suitable method is applied to estimate the amount of bioenergy obtained. Our findings reveal that agricultural crop residues can play a major role in energy production from bioenergy resources in the cities with agriculture capacity such as Bijar, Divandarreh, and Qorveh. In highly populated cities in Kurdistan, including Sanandaj and Saqqez, municipal sewage and waste are two important bioenergy sources.