Potential Energy Production from Citrus Pulp and Olive Pomace: A Case Study in a Region of Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

Abstract:The necessity to investigate suitable alternatives to conventional fossil fuels has 12 developed the interests in many renewable energy alternatives, especially biomass resources which 13 are widely available and allow to reach both environmental and socio-economic improvements.14 Among the bioenergy solutions the anaerobic digestion technology makes it possible to produce 15 biogas by reusing and valorising agricultural residues and by-products. 16In Southern Italy, to date, the development of biogas sector is still very limited, despite the 17 importance of the agricultural sector, especially of citrus and olive cultivation. For this reason, in 18 previous studies the availability of two by-products, i.e., citrus pulp and olive pomace, was analysed 19 in order to choose the most suitable area for a sustainable development of new biogas plants 20 according to the new Biogasdoneright concept. In this paper, after a resume of the multi-step 21 methodology which allowed the computation of biogas production, it was demonstrated that 15.9 22GWh-e electricity and 24.5 GWh-e heat per year could be generate by reusing only these two kind of 23 by-products, and could satisfy approximate 17% of the total electricity demand of the agricultural 24 sector (90.2 GWh-e/year) in Catania. 25 26