Analyzing the availability of non-woody biomass resources for potential pellet production in Ireland

摘要

Due to increasing fuel prices, the treat posed by climate change and the need for independency of energy supply from fossil fuels necessitates the need for a clean, renewable and independent energy source. Biomass is the most common form of renewableenergy and offers great potential for the production of solid and liquid biofuels. The main objective of the paper is to quantify the availability of non-woody biomass (wheat, oat, barley and rape straw, willow and miscanthus) by region of Ireland for the production of solid biofuel pellets. A GIS (Geographic Information System) model was developed to map the locations where non-woody biomass was grown. The total hectares of biomass within each region are computed from this model. Cereal straw offers the greatest potential as a source of biomass for the production of pellets. Within the regions of the South-East and Mid-East of Ireland pellet production from non-woody biomass is likely to be most economical due to the availability of large biomass resources.