A
BSTRACT
Open burning of sugarcane field residues, composed
of top and trash or leaves, is a common practice in
Thailand. This contributes to release a significant amount
of air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG), which lead
to haze pollution and climate change concerns. In this
study, we investigated the spatial and temporal
distribution of atmospheric emissions from sugarcane
field open burning during 2002/03-2011/12 in Thailand
using 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National GHG
Inventories. The amount and power potential of open
burned sugarcane field residues were evaluated. The
result showed that 11,833 ktons ± 2,796 ktons of
sugarcane field residues are annually burned in the field.
The quantity of GHGs including CO
2
, CH
4
, and N
2
O
emitted from open burning of sugarcane residues was
about 146.98 ktons ± 34.73 ktons CO
2
equivalent
(CO
2
eq). About 80% of the total annual GHG emissions
are released between December and March, which
represents the harvesting season. The estimation of power
potential of the open burned sugarcane field residues
resulted in about 1,000 MW electricity per year.
Although the enormous potential for power production,
there are still many limitations in sugarcane field residues
utilization as energy feedstock, especially those related to
their seasonal availability.
Keywords: Sugarcane field residues, Open burning, Air
pollutants, Emissions, Power potential.
I
NTRODUCTION
Thailand is an agricultural base economy country, and
ranked in 2011
as the world’s second largest exporter of
sugar made from sugarcane [1]. This national economic
crop is cultivated in three regions of the country, i.e.
north, northeast, and central regions. In the last decade,
sugarcane plantation area covers about 1 million hectares.
Sugarcane field residues composed of sugarcane top
and leaves are agricultural residues generated after
harvesting process and left in the field. Harvesting season
of sugarcane product covers approximately 5 months,
from November to April, which also fixes the operating
period of sugar mills [1]. In general, these field residues
are almost not utilized, because sugarcane leaves are not
*
Corresponding author
suitable for feeding cattle [2]. On the other hand, some
advanced bagasse power plants have already
demonstrated that they could by utilize sugarcane field
residues as secondary fuel for power generation.
However, they faced a problem of high cost related to the
supply chain, especially that of collection and
transportation [3]. In Thailand, the burning of sugarcane
fields before harvest is a common practice to remove
sharp foliage to facilitate manual harvesting and to
displace insects and snakes [2]. The Office of Cane and
Sugar Board (OCSB) reported that the annual burned area
of sugarcane fields accounted for 60% of the total
sugarcane plantations supplying sugar mills [4]. The open
burning of sugarcane field residues contributes to the
emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants,
including carbon dioxide (CO
2
), carbon monoxide (CO),
methane (CH
4
), nitrous oxide (N
2
O), nitrogen oxide
(NO
x
), and total particulate matter (TPM) due to the
incomplete combustion process, which may cause losses
of nutrients and organic matter from the plantations [5-7].
Using sugarcane field residues as energy resource rather
than a waste can help reducing the crop fields open
burning problem, and hence avoiding GHG and air
pollutants emissions, as well as reducing energy imports.
In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal
distribution of atmospheric emissions from sugarcane
field open burning during 2002/03-2011/12 in Thailand
using 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National GHG
Inventories. The amount and power potential of open
burned sugarcane field residues were also evaluated. The
obtained results from our estimation were presented and
discussed.
M
ETHODOLOGY
The methodology is separated into two main parts.
Firstly, the estimation of the spatial and temporal
distribution of the emission from the sugarcane field
residues open burning using the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.
Secondly, the estimation of the power potential of open
burned sugarcane field residues using the average overall
efficiency of the current operating conditions of bagasse
power plants in Thailand.
A. Estimation of Emission from Open Burning
Based on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National
GHG Inventories, the emission from open burning of
sugarcane fields was estimated using Equation (1).
Utilization of Sugarcane Field Residues for Power
Generation to Reduce Biomass Open Burning Haze
Pollution in Thailand
S. Jenjariyakosoln
1,2
, and S. Garivait
1,2,*
1
The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment
,
Bangkok (
Thailand
)
2
Center for Energy Technology and Environment, Ministry of Education (
Thailand
)
2013 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
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