Greenhouse gas emission mitigation potential of rice husks for An Giang province, Vietnam

To evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation potential of rice husk utilization, a life cycle inventory analysis was conducted for 18 scenarios. The allocation of fuels, other than rice husks, was decided based on the current demand for and supply of rice husks. To prevent the bulky nature of rice husks, briquette production is also discussed. In the power generation scenarios, the differences between two capacities (5 MW and 30 MW) were analyzed. The results of analysis reveal that CH4 and N2O emissions from open burning contribute largely to the current GHG emissions. Therefore, ceasing open burning alone has a large GHG mitigation potential. The use of briquettes, even though GHG is emitted during the production stage, can still contribute to GHG emission mitigation as the production is more efficient than rice husk burning or dumping. In the power generation scenarios, most GHG emissions were derived from the combustion process. Therefore, gasification which has a little combustion process is the most efficient GHG mitigator. Both the replacement of grid electricity by generated electricity, and the replacement of diesel oil by pyrolyzed oil show larger GHG mitigation potentials than what could be derived from open burning cessation alone.

► The different rice husk use technologies are analyzed to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation potential.
► The innovative technologies show higher mitigation potential than that of conventional uses (cooking and brick making).
► Rice husk briquette use as a transient technology also shows high GHG mitigation.