Site Selection for Centralization of Pig Manure Biogas Facilities in Gyeonggi-do Using Kernel Density Analysis

Abstract

In South Korea, the standard facility capacity for bioenergy facilities is set at 100 tons per day based on livestock manure amount by bioenergy-related laws. To achieve the government's goals for the energy recovery from livestock manure, there is a need to expand and distribute centralized facilities with a capacity of 100 tons of livestock manure per day. The location and scale of these centralized facilities are influenced by the geographical location and livestock breeding scale of nearby livestock farms. The size of most domestic pig farms is small, thus it is necessary to analyze the distribution and density of medium-sized or larger livestock farms capable of supplying manure to centralized facilities. In this study, kernel density analysis and spatial density analysis were conducted to select suitable regions for centralized biogas facilities for pig manure for Gyeonggi-do. As a result of analyzing the Gyeonggi-do region as a case study, four regions in southern Gyeonggi-do and one region in northern Gyeonggi-do were estimated to be suitable regions. Although it is necessary to confirm specific suitable regions through a feasibility assessment of regions estimated to be suitable regions, it is believed that selecting candidate regions first and conducting a feasibility study through kernel density analysis will save time and help in rational decision-making.