Biomass Residues as Energy Source to Improve Energy Access and Local Economic Activity in Low HDI Regions of Brazil and Colombia (BREA)

Abstract

Access to cleaner and affordable energy options is essential for improving the livelihoods of the poor in developing countries. The link between energy and poverty is demonstrated by the fact that the poor in developing countries constitute the bulk of an estimated 2.7 billion people relying on traditional biomass for cooking and the overwhelming majority of the 1.3 billion without access to grid electricity (IEA, 2015a). The Brazilian Amazon region and the Colombian isolated areas – despite their national electrification rate of 99.5% and 97.1% respectively – account to about 2.4 million of people without electricity access. When it comes to cooking this number grows eightfold, almost 20 million people within these two countries rely on the traditional use of biomass for cooking. In fact, 6% of Brazilians and 15% of Colombians cook using firewood (IEA, 2015b).
The lack of modern and affordable forms of energy affects agricultural and economic productivity, opportunities for income generation, and more generally the ability to improve living conditions. Moreover, low agricultural and economic productivity as well as diminished livelihood opportunities in turn result in malnourishment, low earnings, and no or little surplus cash. This contributes to the poor remaining poor, and consequently they cannot afford to pay for cleaner or improved forms of energy such as fuels and equipment. In this sense the problem of poverty remains closely intertwined with a lack of cleaner and affordable energy services.
In this context, the main objective of the “Biomass Residues as Energy Source to Improve Energy Access and Local Economic Activity in low HDI regions of Brazil and Colombia (BREA)” is to develop a better knowledge of energy requirements for productive purposes among poor households in urban and rural areas of Brazil and Colombia (many of them in isolated regions), which could allow inputs for targeted policy interventions. Aiming to do that, BREA analyzed the perspectives to increase and improve energy access and energy for productive uses, as well as to enhance the Human Development Index (HDI) of the low-income population selected.
The goal was to combine the delivery of energy services with measures that generate cash incomes, following the Energy+ Initiative, as proposed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Through the use of small power and heat generation technologies fed with urban and rural biomass waste, BREA intends to replace traditional biomass and fossil fuels so as to enable the electrification and improvement of local economic activities.
This report identified that existing technologies available in the two countries include, as a first step, photovoltaic panels, but these are only possible for small power supply. Also, they are quite expensive systems since most are still imported. Therefore, the use of biomass residues allows the production of higher power, mainly in areas where such residues are available in a large amount, as shown in this report. The mains advantage of the use of biomass residues is exactly the perspective of producing power also for productive activities, as well as contributing to reduce the negative impacts of inadequate use of such residues (i.e., municipal solid waste and animal residues, which currently are discharged inadequately, and agricultural and wood residues, which are burnt in open air or left in situ).
The main difficulty identified by the study is related to the use of biomass residues for power production:
a) Lack of funding (both private and from government).
b) Difficult economic feasibility since many of the municipalities are too small and households present a large dispersion in rural areas, mainly in the Amazon region of Brazil and Colombia.
c) Lack of local capacity building to operate and maintain some of the technologies.
d) Lack of political will.
Regarding the technologies proposed in this study for the recovery of biomass residues, each one has a different situation
a) Biodigestion – technology already commercialized in Brazil, but not too much used yet in rural areas. Despite some efforts in Colombia, the technology has not been widely implemented for power generation purposes in rural and isolated areas. Hence, it is needed to develop a large and widespread program in such regions.
b) Small-scale combustion (steam cycles) – technology already fully commercialized in Brazil by TGM Turbines (from 200 kWe and up, and exported to other Latin America countries such as Colombia).
c) Small-scale biomass gasifiers (up to 200 kW) – technology already available but not yet fully commercialized. Some pilot plants were implemented in the Amazon region using agricultural and wood residues (i.e., Gaseifamaz project).
As a result, this study recommends policies and strategies to overcome the existing barriers, such as:
a) Adequate funding from the Federal Government and/or international agencies.
b) Adequate finance programs from existing local banks and/or international banks with low interest rates to be affordable for poor municipalities
c) Adequate policies enlarging the existing CCC to biomass power production, in Brazil, and the introduction of similar program in Colombia
d) To develop one local pilot demonstration plant in one of these municipalities selected
e) To improve existing electric sector legislation and the existing programs to increase energy access, aiming to incentivize the utilities to provide this supply
In short, energy access – including energy for productive uses – may contribute to increase the (very) low HDI of the selected municipalities of the project in the following cases:
a) Productive uses may allow local people to commercialize more products with more value added (see example of Gaseifamaz project in Amazon region).
b) If MSW (disposed in an inadequate way in all municipalities) can be used for energy production, this could help to make feasible the adequate collection and disposal of waste.
c) In the case of agricultural/wood residues, mainly burnt in open-air, the energy conversion would eliminate the CO2 emissions from this burning and the health impacts.