(b)
(c)
Fig. 2. The average amount of sugarcane field residues generated and
open burned during 2002/03 to 2011/12, Thailand (a) Northern (b)
Northeastern (c) Central region.
Fig. 2 indicates that the amount of open burned
sugarcane field residues is the highest in the northern,
followed by central and northern regions. In Thailand, the
average total amount of generated sugarcane field
residues is about 20,000 ktons per year, and the average
total amount of open burned residues approximately
12,000 ktons per year.
A.2 Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Emissions from
Sugarcane Field Residues Open Burning in Thailand
The EFs published in previous study, as shown in
Table I, and the amount of open burned residues resulted
from Fig. 2, were used for the estimation of the
atmospheric emissions from of sugarcane field residues
open burning. The obtained emission estimates and their
standar deviation (SD) of CO, NO
x
, TPM, and GHG
including CO
2
, CH
4
and N
2
O are reported in Table II.
Because the emission are directly related to the
amount of open burned sugarcane field residues by
Equation 1, the emission of air pollutants and GHG is the
highest in the northeastern, followed by central and
northern regions of the country. The annual amount of
emissions of CO, NO
x
, and TPM from open burning of
sugarcane field residues in Thailand are 94.60 ±
22.35 ktons, 3.23 ± 0.76 ktons, and 8.08 ± 1.91 ktons,
respectively. The annual emissions of CO
2
, CH
4
, and N
2
O
are 24.14 ± 5.70 ktons, 4.61 ± 1.09 ktons, and
0.16 ± 0.04 ktons, respectively. This corresponds to an
annual amount of 146.98 ± 34.73 ktons CO
2eq
.
TABLE II
T
HE
A
NNUAL
A
MOUNT OF AIR
P
OLLUTANTS AND
G
HGEMISSIONS
F
ROM
S
UGARCANE
F
IELD
R
ESIDUES
O
PEN
B
URNING
D
URING
2002/03 T
O
2011/12
Pollutant
Northern
Northeastern
Central
Total
CO (kton)
26.44
(7.00)
35.22
(25.43)
32.95
(9.92)
94.60
(22.35)
CO
2
(kton)
6.74
(1.78)
8.98 (6.49)
8.41
(2.53)
24.14
(5.70)
CH
4
(kton)
1.29
(0.34)
1.72 (1.24)
1.61
(0.48)
4.61
(1.09)
N
2
O (kton)
0.05
(0.01)
0.06 (0.04)
0.06
(00.2)
0.16
(0.04)
NO
x
(kton)
0.90
(0.24)
1.20 (0.87)
1.13
(0.34)
3.23
(0.76)
TPM (kton)
2.26
(0.60)
3.01 (2.17)
2.81
(0.85)
8.08
(1.91)
GHG
(kton CO
2eq
)
41.08
(10.87)
54.72
(39.51)
51.19
(15.41)
146.98
(34.73)
Note: The standard deviation (SD) is indicated in brackets.
The monthly emissions of GHG in CO
2
eq, expressed
as percentage of the average of annual total emission
from open burning of sugarcane field residues, are
displayed in Fig. 3. As expected from Equation 1 and the
monthly profile of open burned sugarcane residues, the
peak period of emissions runs between January and
March, during which about 80% of the annual total GHG
emissions from sugarcane field residues open burning are
released.
Fig. 3. Percentage of GHG emissions from open sugarcane field
burning.
B. Power Generation Potential from Open Burned
Sugarcane Field Residues Using Bagasse Power Plants
In Thailand, bagasse power plants are reported by
Energy Policy and Planning Office as the main biomass
power plant type in the national small power producers
(SPP) and very small power producers (VSPP) programs
[11]. Bagasse power plants are electricity generation units
of sugar mills suppliers of the bagasse fuel.
There are 45 out of the country overall 47 sugar mills
selling electricity to the national grid, which is under the
authority of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA).
As sugarcane field residues can be burned in the same
boiler as bagasse for power generation, without any
technological barrier, we assumed that the amount of
sugarcane field residues subject to open burning annually
would be used to fuel national bagasse power plants. In
this study, the overall efficiency of the power plant to
generate electricity of 12.20%, which has been reported
as the country-specific average overall efficiency under
current operating conditions of bagasse power plants in
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
NE1
NE2
NE3
NE4
NE5
NE6
NE7
NE8
NE9
NE10
NE11
NE12
NE13
NE14
NE15
NE16
NE17
NE18
NE19
NE20
Province code of Northeastern region
Residues generated
Burned residues
kton
7,342 ktons of residues generated
4,405 ktons of burned residues
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10C11C12C13C14C15C16C17
Province code of Central region
Residues generated Burned residues
kton
6,869 ktons of residues generated
4,121 ktons of burned residues
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Percentage of GHG
emission
Month
Y +1
Y
2013 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
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