Scenarios for Sustainable Biomass Use in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

By conducting a survey of energy demand in rural industries of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, this study aimed to: (i)estimate current and future energy demands of rural industries; (ii) identify the most available biomass source for energy production;and (iii) develop and assess biomass utilization scenarios with different system scales and conversion technologies. The resultsshowed that rice husk and straw are the most available biomass sources for energy production in the Mekong Delta. Depending onthe type of technology and the scale of the system, electricity produced from such biomass sources could be used to satisfy demandswithin the community, and the excess energy produced could be sold to the national grid. A set of indicators, including the specificcost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of usable energy, total GHG emissions, and GHG marginal abatement cost were used toassess the economic and environmental benefits of several biomass utilization scenarios. All the scenarios in which grid-basedelectricity was replaced by biomass-based electricity have lower specific usable energy costs and GHG emissions, resulting innegative values of the marginal GHG abatement cost. Among the scenarios we considered, medium-scale systems offer bettereconomic and environmental benefits than small-scale systems. Gasification-based systems have a lower environmental impact but ahigher cost for usable energy than steam turbine systems.