Techno-economic analysis to adopt a biogas plant for processing agricultural waste: a case study

ABSTRACT

The rising population has increased the demand for food, thus increasing the production of agricultural waste. However, the use of biogas offers clean energy through proper agricultural waste management. This study aimed to develop a sustainable framework for biogas production using agricultural waste in northern Iraq. The farmers’ willingness to participate in supplying agricultural waste to the biogas plant was assessed. In addition, suitable locations were identified for waste collection to set up biogas facilities using a general model. The established biogas plant with 71,790 m³ digester volume could treat 327,500 m³ of waste every yr and generate 17,960,000 m³/yr of biogas. Finally, a net present value of 7,603,000 USD was obtained, resulting in a 26.11% internal rate of return with a payback period of less than 4 yrs, with an estimated biogas production value of 0.0689 USD/m³, and the levelized cost of energy value of 0.0796 USD/kWh. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, farmers, and stakeholders in the biogas industry, facilitating the adoption of sustainable and renewable energy solutions in countries with similar conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Agriculture waste
• biogas model
• social preferences
• collection and transport
• anaerobic digestion
• techno-economic aspects

Abbreviation

AW	=	Agricultural waste
GHG	=	Greenhouse gas emissions
WTP	=	Farmers’ willingness to participate
SI	=	Suitability index
AHP	=	Analytic hierarchy process
SL	=	Feedstock slurry
RT	=	Retention time
DM	=	Dry matter
CO	=	Concentration
FQ	=	Feedstock quality
OLR	=	Organic loading rate
AG	=	Amount of biogas
BY	=	Biogas yield
VD	=	Digester volume
BFY	=	Bio-fertilizer yield
NPV	=	Net present value
IRR	=	Internal rate of return
SPP	=	Simple payback period
LCC	=	Life cycle cost
LCOE	=	Levelized cost of energy
O&M	=	Operation and maintenance
BOF	=	Biogas of production

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Nabaz Mohammedali Rasool

Nabaz Mohammedali Rasool received his bachelor’s degree in physics science from Salahaddin University in 2009. After that, He worked at the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Then he obtained his master’s degree in physics engineering from Gaziantep University in 2013. He is currently a PhD student in energy engineering systems at Cyprus International University. His field of interest is biogas production plant.

Serkan Abbasoğlu

Serkan Abbasoğlu is a full Professor of Energy Systems at Cyprus International University, where he has been working in the Department/Faculty of Engineering since 2009. His research interests include renewable energy systems, natural resource economics, and policy. He obtained his PhD from Eastern Mediterranean University in 2006. He received his MSc. and BSc. from Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi in 1999 and 1997, respectively.

Mehrshad Radmehr

Mehrshad Radmehr is an assistant Professor of Economics at Cyprus International University, where she has been working in the Department/Faculty of Economics since 2017. Prior to this, she worked at various universities in Cyprus and in the country of Georgia. Her research interests include environmental valuation and welfare, natural resource economics, and policy. She obtained her PhD in Environmental Economics from Newcastle University, UK. She received her MSc. from Eastern Mediterranean University in 2007 and her BSc. from Tehran Markaz University in 1997.