Solar treatment of biomass for power generation using carbon slurries in hybrid renewable energy systems (ACERA)

Co-investigators

Dr Andy Ross, Professor Jenny Jones, Professor Paul Williams, Dr Hu Li, Dr Ben Chong

Postgraduate researchers

Opio Mira (CREEC), Mwaka Juma (Dar-es Salaam Institute of Technology), Tania Mayala (Marien Ngouabi University)

Overview

The provision of clean, reliable and affordable electricity has a multiplier effect on development, so increasing generation capacity and electrification rates is one of the key goals of African energy policy. Electricity demand across the continent is expected to double between 2012 and 2035. When determining how to meet growing demand, it is important that policymakers take into account the relative social value of different energy options.

Several African countries have significant fossil fuel resources in the form of coal and gas that could be used for power generation. However, Africa’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change suggests that new electricity generation capacity should preferentially be from low carbon sources.

This project aims to tackle the challenge of universal access to clean modern energy in sub‐Saharan Africa. It uses two readily available energy sources in Africa: sunshine and biomass. It is novel because it seeks to overcome the major renewable energy constraint of storage of solar power through solar treatment of biomass and using the stored treated biomass as a fuel for electricity generation.

The project also contains a third key component: integrating different sources of electricity in hybrid renewable energy systems. The project is designed primarily for capacity building and contains a major element of training through PhD student development and research exchange. The project also seeks to enhance gender‐balance in renewable energy capacity.

This programme aims to overcome the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities by:

1. Using biomass as the primary energy source
2. Storing solar energy by using concentrated solar power to treat biomass
3. Converting solar treated biomass into a fuel that can be used directly in modified electricity generators
4. Developing a scalable hybrid renewable electric energy system for rural electrification in order to integrate the mix of renewable energies.

Impact

The impact of the project will be to enhance the skills base in Africa for provision of clean modern energy supplies of renewable energy. This will be achieved through capacity building by training three PhD students through conducting innovative research on renewable energy; creating a network of researchers and practitioners; and developing training courses that will continue to be delivered by the project partners after completion of the project.

Project website

https://cera.leeds.ac.uk/