Agricultural and forest residues in peru: Potential for the bioenergy use

The total primary energy supply in Peru in 2014 was 22’711,210 TOE, mainly from fossil fuels with 82% followed by wood and hydroelectric energy. Despite the high energy potential of agro-wastes, these resources are considered as low-value materials being burned or sent to landfills.The aim of this work was the development of the Peruvian Biomass Energy Atlas which shows the location, quantity and energy potential of agricultural and forest wastes in the country, at department and provincial level. It is the first Biomass Atlas in Peru and will become a valuable tool for defining projects, polices and future research activities within the bioenergy field. The work included analysis of agricultural and forestry data production from 2003 to 2013, selection of biomass residues for research using the CAFRE methodology, estimation of the energy potential of residual biomass, data processing and maps making. Peru generates over 11’553,700 tonnes of biomass residues that represent 2’882,777 TOE. These are mainly composed by corn stems, leaves and cobs (37%), crop residues from sugarcane (20%), bagasse (17%), rice husk and straw (15%), cotton straw (6%), asparagus straw (4%), sawdust (1%). La Libertad, Lambayeque, Lima and Ica were the departments with the highest biomass energy potential.