DefinePK

Abstract

Nigeria is presently drifting towards making an ambitious commitment to renewable energy development. Small scale solar energy is currently being harnessed for rural electrification in Nigeria but the use of biomass especially agricultural residues for power generation is largely neglected. Therefore, in this paper, the assessment of the potential of three corn (maize) residues for power generation is conducted for the geo-political zones in the country. Different corn residues (stalk, cob, and straw) were processed into dried samples with particles diameter of 0.35-0.42 mm and used experimentally in IKA C2000 bomb calorimeter for the determination of lower heating values. Crop-to-residue ratios of the selected residues were also determined using standard laboratory analysis while a mathematical computational method was used for the estimation of the potential bioenergy of the residues. A total of 145.2 PJ (40.3 TWh) of the potential bioenergy estimated from the residues is equal to approximately one-half of the total electricity consumption of 26.26 TWh in the country in 2016. The energy potential also represents 4,604 MW of electricity and the current national electric power generating capacity fluctuates between 4000-5000 MW. A total of 9416991 Gg of emissions that could be saved using the residues for power generation was also calculated for all the geopolitical zones. Findings revealed that the bioenergy potential of 4,604 MW estimated from the selected corn residues can produce a substantial amount of the national electricity demand. The estimated emissions potential is mainly from carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4) known for their high level of anthropogenic environmental pollution.