Biomass potential in Andalusia, from grapevines, olives, fruit trees and poplar, for providing heating in homes

Abstract: Conventional energy resources, has been shown to be limited and they are producing environmental degradation. So the transition to an energy model based on the use of renewable energy is an urgent need. The energy and environmental policies are evidence of this and they are being implemented out a multitude of countries worldwide, furthermore one important element in this transition is the increased use of biomass for energy production. Agricultural residues are produced in huge quantities in all countries; most of these could be used for energy generation. This property increases the value of waste materials and reduces the environmental impacts of waste disposal. This paper analyzes the situation of biomass energy resources in Andalusia, and quantifies the pruning obtained from different crop kinds: grapevines, olives, fruit trees and poplar plantations. All this biomass is destined for energetic use in domestic heating. In addition, it could be some additional revenue for fruit producers, whereas to achieve a more sustainable bioenergetic system. We estimate the measures of the planting area of all mentioned crops in Andalusia. The main goal is to determine the amount of usable energy from the biomass. But we consider only pruning of trees. The results show that most of the biomass is originated from olive pruning. Besides the entire biomass from crops with grapevines, olives, fruit trees and growing part of poplar plantations, we could supply a large percentage of the total energy consumed for annual home heating in Andalusia (2007). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]