Thailand has tremendous biomass energy potential with some studies projecting that biomass wastes can cover up to 15 % of the energy demand in Thailand. These estimations are primarily made from biomass waste from the extraction part of agricultural activities, and for large scale agricultural processing of crops etc. – as for instance saw and palm oil mills – and do not include biomass wastes from SMEs in Thailand. Thus, the energy potential of biomass waste can be much larger if these resources are included.

Biomass Resources in Thailand

The major biomass resources in Thailand include the following:

Woody biomass residues from forest plantations

Agricultural residues (rice husk, bagasse, corn cobs, etc.)

Wood residues from wood and furniture industries (bark, sawdust, etc.)

Biomass for ethanol production (cassava, sugar cane, etc.)

Biomass for biodiesel production (palm oil, jatropha oil, etc.)

Industrial wastewater from agro-industry

Livestock manure

Municipal solid wastes and sewage

Thailand’s vast biomass potential has been partially exploited through the use of traditional as well as more advanced conversion technologies for biogas, power generation, and biofuels. Rice, sugar, palm oil, and wood-related industries are the major potential biomass energy sources. The country has a fairly large biomass resource base of about 60 million tons generated each year that could be utilized for energy purposes, such as rice, sugarcane, rubber sheets, palm oil and cassava.

Biomass has been a primary source of energy for many years, used for domestic heating and industrial cogeneration. For example, paddy husks are burned to produce steam for turbine operation in rice mills; bagasse and palm residues are used to produce steam and electricity for on-site manufacturing process; and rubber wood chips are burned to produce hot air for rubber wood seasoning.

In addition to biomass residues, wastewater containing organic matters from livestock farms and industries has increasingly been used as a potential source of biomass energy. Thailand’s primary biogas sources are pig farms and residues from food processing. The production potential of biogas from industrial wastewater from palm oil industries, tapioca starch industries, food processing industries, and slaughter industries is also significant.

The energy-recovery and environmental benefits that the Khorat waste-to-energy project has already delivered is attracting keen interest from a wide range of food processing industries around the world.

Conclusions

Thailand’s annual energy consumption has risen sharply during the past decade and will continue its upward trend in the years to come. While energy demand has risen sharply, domestic sources of supply are limited, thus forcing a significant reliance on imports. To face this increasing demand, Thailand needs to produce more energy from its own renewable resources, particularly biomass wastes derived from agro-industry, such as bagasse, rice husk, wood chips, livestock and municipal wastes.

Originally posted 2015-03-04 08:03:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sharing Email

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Reddit

Tumblr

Pocket

WhatsApp

Telegram



Like this: Like Loading...