Publication: Potential of distributed wood-based biopower systems serving basic electricity needs in rural Uganda
| dc.contributor.author | Da Silva, Izael | |
| dc.creator | Buchholz, T. | |
| dc.creator | Silva, I. P. | |
| dc.date | 04/22/2013 | |
| dc.date | Mon, 22 Apr 2013 | |
| dc.date | Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:44:21 | |
| dc.date | Month: 3 Day: 17 Year: 2010 | |
| dc.date | Thu, 2 May 2013 12:33:42 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-03-18T11:28:53Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-03-18T11:28:53Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Current efforts to improve electricity services in Uganda evolve around satisfying growing urban demand as well as stabilizing and boosting a low electricity supply. Although virtually non-existent, rural electrification is receiving very little attention. This paper investigates the potential of wood-based biopower fueled from coppicing shrubs on its feasibility to provide affordable basic electricity services to rural Ugandan households. Gasification was the specific technology we assessed. In the calculations, a worst case scenario was chosen for wood-based biopower to compete with alternative sources of electricity: Cost and land use estimates assumed a rather high household consumption (30 kWh/month), a low household size (8 persons), a low area productivity (3 oven-dried tons per ha per year), a low electrical conversion efficiency (15%) and a high demand competing for fertile land with the biopower system. Cost estimates considered a high biomass price (18.5 US$/odt), a low capacity factor for the biopower system of 0.5 (therefore requiring installation of a larger unit) and high capital costs of 2300 US$ per kW installed. Additional pressure on fertile land would be negligible. Such biopower systems can outcompete other sources of electricity from a micro and macro-economic standpoint when looking at the local scale. Results indicate that biopower can deliver better and more energy services at 47 US$/yr and household or 0.11 US$/kWh which is below current average costs for e.g. off-grid lighting in rural Ugandan households. Additionally, only this biopower option offers the ability to households, sell wood to the biopower system and contribute at least four times as much to the local economy than the other electricity options used as terms of comparison. Further research has to focus on developing business plans and loan schemes for such biopower options including sustainable fuelwood supply chains based on coppicing shrubs which have the ability to contribute to agricultural site improvements. The approach outlined in this paper can further serve as a general framework to compare different options of electricity production across technologies and fuel sources especially for rural development purposes incorporating a multitude of aspects. | |
| dc.format | Number of Pages:56–61 | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Buchholz, T., & DaSilva, I. P. (2010). Potential of distributed wood-based biopower systems serving basic electricity needs in rural Uganda. Energy for Sustainable Development (pp. 56–61). Elsevier B.V. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11071/3487 | |
| dc.language | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Elsevier B.V ScienceDirect | |
| dc.rights | By agreeing with and accepting this license, I (the author(s), copyright owner or nominated agent) agree to the conditions, as stated below, for deposit of the item (referred to as .the Work.) in the digital repository maintained by Strathmore University, or any other repository authorized for use by Strathmore University. Non-exclusive Rights Rights granted to the digital repository through this agreement are entirely non-exclusive. I understand that depositing the Work in the repository does not affect my rights to publish the Work elsewhere, either in present or future versions. I agree that Strathmore University may electronically store, copy or translate the Work to any approved medium or format for the purpose of future preservation and accessibility. Strathmore University is not under any obligation to reproduce or display the Work in the same formats or resolutions in which it was originally deposited. SU Digital Repository I understand that work deposited in the digital repository will be accessible to a wide variety of people and institutions, including automated agents and search engines via the World Wide Web. I understand that once the Work is deposited, metadata may be incorporated into public access catalogues. I agree as follows: 1.That I am the author or have the authority of the author/s to make this agreement and do hereby give Strathmore University the right to make the Work available in the way described above. 2.That I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the Work is original, and to the best of my knowledge, does not breach any laws including those relating to defamation, libel and copyright. 3.That I have, in instances where the intellectual property of other authors or copyright holders is included in the Work, gained explicit permission for the inclusion of that material in the Work, and in the electronic form of the Work as accessed through the open access digital repository, or that I have identified that material for which adequate permission has not been obtained and which will be inaccessible via the digital repository. 4.That Strathmore University does not hold any obligation to take legal action on behalf of the Depositor, or other rights holders, in the event of a breach of intellectual property rights, or any other right, in the material deposited. 5.That if, as a result of my having knowingly or recklessly given a false statement at points 1, 2 or 3 above, the University suffers loss, I will make good that loss and indemnify Strathmore University for all action, suits, proceedings, claims, demands and costs occasioned by the University in consequence of my false statement. | |
| dc.subject | Rural electrification | |
| dc.subject | Gasification | |
| dc.subject | Distributed electricity | |
| dc.subject | Fuelwood | |
| dc.subject | Electricity costs | |
| dc.title | Potential of distributed wood-based biopower systems serving basic electricity needs in rural Uganda | |
| dc.type | Conference Paper | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 8fe091bc-b85d-4528-aa5d-42de99a427e8 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 8fe091bc-b85d-4528-aa5d-42de99a427e8 |
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