Agricultural Residue Availability and Fuel Resource Assessment for Decentralised Biomass Gasification and Rural Energy Supply in Northern Nigeria

Reliable and affordable energy supply presents a major challenge to a lot of communities in Nigeria. Agricultural residues present a local biomass resource for decentralized energy supply through thermochemical conversion. This study evaluates the resource potential of six (6) selected agricultural residues in Katsina, Kano and Kaduna States of northern Nigeria as feedstock for decentralized biomass gasification. The residues include sorghum stalks, maize stalks/stover, millet straw, maize cobs, rice husks and groundnut shells. The study estimates a gross resource potential of 7.036 Mt/year (7,036 kt/year) of agricultural residues in the study area. The higher heating values (HHVs) of the residues indicate their varied energy densities. Combined with their gross availability, the study estimates a gross chemical energy resource potential of 124.44 PJ/year. This study therefore provides a resource assessment basis for decentralized gasification of biomass residues for electricity and heat in rural communities in northern Nigeria with localized electricity and thermal energy demand.