Bio-energy in Palestine between reality and potential

Abstract

Palestine suffers from two main problems in the economy: dependence on imports in all sectors, including the energy sector, and relying on the assistance of donor institutions and international development institutions. In recent years, international aid has declined significantly, but energy imports and consumption continue to increase due to the increasing population, the absence of a public transport sector, and so the increase in the number of vehicles in the transport sector and the doubling of the consumption of petroleum energy. Hence, there is a need to study the potential of renewable energy, including bio-energy. In Palestine, there are huge natural possibilities in the field of bio-energy, which greatly reduces dependence on imports. In the field of bio-energy, there are huge amounts of solid waste produced by municipalities, which spend large sums of money to bury them in waste dumps, which are deficient and inadequate to meet the needs, there is a large amount of waste oil used and polluting the environment. There are also large quantities of olive peats that pollute the environment. Investment in these fields produces large amounts of energy and protects the environment from severe damage. In addition, there are huge quantities of animal manure from goats, chickens and cows, which can generate energy. In any case, bio-energy processes lead to the production of natural fertilizers that are desirable to farmers because of their lack of odors. The organic waste produced in Palestine per year is as follows: Wood and Charcoal 2,7917 tons, Organic municipal solid waste 7,325,741,5 tons, Olive peat 476,921 tons, Oils and Lubricants 1,083 tons, Animal manure 628,660 tons, the total is 74,391,996 tons. The amount of biogas that can be extracted from organic waste, depends on the waste itself and the design of the digester system, it ranges from 20 m3 per ton to 800 m3 of biogas per ton. Each cubic meter (m3) of biogas contains the equivalent of 6kWh of calorific energy. In Palestine: 74,391,996 tons* 20 = 1,487,839,920 m3 of biogas produces (8,927,039,520 kW).Which consist of (2,975,679,840 kW) electric energy, and (5,951,359,680 kW) thermal energy.