Evaluation of biogas potential from livestock manures and rural wastes using GIS in Iran

The increasing demand of energy, fossil resource limitation and environmental pollution due to fuels combustion has motivated researchers to study about renewable sources of energies. Biogas is a renewable energy resource which is produced through decomposing organic waste under anaerobic conditions and is mainly composed of methane (60%) and carbon dioxide (35-40%). Anaerobic digestion of livestock manure and rural waste, which need to be managed properly to prevent pollution, can be used for sustainable biogas production, reduction of unpleasant odors and microbial pathogens and production of rich fertilizers. This study addresses on how utilization of information such as rural and livestock population, land-use maps and geographic information system (GIS) can be employed to develop a model for evaluation of biogas production from livestock manure and rural household waste, in Iran. The model can be used to identify the appropriate locations for construction of biogas production plants. Moreover, the analysis process used in the current study relies on more spatially detailed information about the available biomass and suitable sites for biogas plant construction, compared to the previous studies conducted in Iran. The results showed that 2740 million m3/year of methane can be annually produced using livestock manure and rural wastes.