Feasibility Analysis of Biogas Production by Using GIS and Multicriteria Decision Aid Methods in the Central African Republic

Abstract

Organic waste-derived biogas production is an effective way to transform biowaste into renewable energy for the electricity supply in developed and developing countries. This study analyzes the feasibility of biogas production as a solution to waste management and electricity supply in Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic. The selection of the biogas plant site in an urban area is a complex process due to the area availability and different factors. The GIS, combined with the MCDA, could analyze the environmental, social, and economic factors and criteria such as slope, settlement, rivers, land, urban growth, and local and major roads. Applying the ELECTRE TRI as the MCDA method enhanced the techniques to determine the suitable biogas plant site. The biowaste amount and distance from the suitable site were determined using the ArcGIS distance toolset. The biogas plant’s economic and environmental benefits, such as the electricity production capacity and CO2 reduction, were analyzed based on the population growth and the biogas production per year. The analyzed results obtain an area of 3.5 km2 for a large-scale biogas plant construction, with a potential production of 2,126,799.68 kW per year using combined heat and power and 2,303,100.23 kW by converting the thermal energy to electricity. This large-scale biogas plant could treat 20% of the organic waste per year, cover 60% of the city’s electricity demand, and reduce 946,200 kg of CO2 equivalent per year.