Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87

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Biomass and Bioenergy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biombioe

Research paper

Potential of bio-energy production in Ethiopia based on available biomass T

residues
Elias W. Gabisaa,b,c, Shabbir H. Gheewalaa,b,∗
a
The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Prachauthit Road, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
b
Centre for Energy Technology and Environment, PERDO, Bangkok, Thailand
c
Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Biomass is one of the most important and emerging sources of energy. The objective of this study was, therefore,
Agricultural residue to explore the potential of energy production from biomass resources available in Ethiopia. The study involved
Bioenergy the estimation of bio-energy potential from crop residues, forest, livestock waste, and municipal solid waste
Ethiopia (MSW) in the major towns of the country. The paper also presents policy recommendations for sustainable bio-
Forest residue
energy development. The crop, forest, and livestock population data were extracted from the Food and
Livestock waste
Agriculture Organization statistics database (FAOSTAT) and the country's national and regional reports. The
Municipal solid waste
results revealed that Ethiopia has a substantial amount of biomass residues, which are not currently being
utilized and collected, that can be used without negatively affecting the socio-economic as well as environmental
requirements and without compromising food security. The total bio-energy availability of the country was
estimated to be 750 PJ per year (46.5% forest residue, 34% crops residue, 18.8% livestock waste, and 0.05%
MSW). The study concludes that an integrated bio-energy database, research development, and identification of
feasible bio-energy feedstock value chains are needed to fully realize the potential availability of biomass energy.
It also recommends that assessment of the bio-energy value chain should be conducted along its life cycle.

1. Introduction
Biomass is a natural resource used all over the world for different
purposes, including energy. It is considered to be a backbone of energy
sources in developing countries, especially sub-Saharan countries like
Ethiopia [1]. Biomass resources can be classified as woody biomass,
agricultural waste and municipal solid waste [2]. At the global level,
the current share of biomass as energy is estimated to be in the range of
9–15% [3]. The need of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and their
adverse contribution to global warming pushes the world community to
shift to biomass energy which is supposed to be relatively clean [4]. The
amount of future bio-energy is highly dependent on the available bio-
mass resources as well as their sustainable utilization [5]. In sub-Sa-
haran countries, the biomass resources are used mainly by direct
burning in open fire systems which becomes a cause for indoor air
pollution that contributes to health problems of women and children as
these sections of the community have direct exposure to the risk [6].
The population suffering from this problem is living in off-grid areas
and was estimated to be as large as 585 million in 2009 [1].
The largest part of the Ethiopian population lives in rural areas of
the country and is highly dependent on agriculture [7]. This largest
segment of the country is consuming energy nearly entirely from bio-
mass (woody biomass and agricultural residues), whereas a small
fraction of kerosene is for lighting [8]. This dependency on wood fuel
has been causing depletion of forests for the last 35 years; and farmers
need to go far for collecting fuel wood spending a lot of time and money
[9]. Nearly 90% of the energy demand is fulfilled from traditional use of
biomass for cooking and baking within the country [10], in both rural
and urban areas.
Geographical information system (GIS) has been used by re-
searchers as a tool for assessment of different resources, including
biomass. It has been used to show the spatial distribution of bioenergy
potential for instance in Zambia by producing resource assessment
maps for different provinces of the country [2]. Spatial and non-spatial
data have been integrated with GIS to identify the sites for optimum
production of biogas using anaerobic digesters [11]. In this study, the
potential and geographical distribution of biogas feedstock has been
evaluated using GIS by including criteria for three dimensions – eco-
logical, technical and economic.
GIS has also been utilized to estimate the biomass resources density

∗
Corresponding author. The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Prachauthit Road, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.
E-mail address: shabbir_g@jgsee.kmutt.ac.th (S.H. Gheewala).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2018.02.009
Received 6 October 2017; Received in revised form 6 January 2018; Accepted 8 February 2018
0961-9534/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala
areas by using production data, area coverage as well as population
density data. Indicators and production areas of biomass were com-
puted using the country's Agricultural Census Database and the
Regional Technique Map (RTM) of the study area [12]. The relationship
between the existing biomass resources and the power plants' wood fuel
demand has been analyzed based on GIS, which addresses the biomass
distribution patterns so that the possible hotspot high biogas density
areas are clearly seen on the kernel density map [13].
Currently, Remote Sensing (RS)-GIS is emerging as a tool to assess
renewable energy resources, but they require very high resolution
images as well as data in the same reference year as that of the images,
which are still lacking in Ethiopia [14].
Ethiopia is considered as the number one country in the world fa-
cing energy poverty which makes the development of alternative en-
ergy resources reasonable [15] in the sense that energy poverty has a
direct contribution to poverty [16]. The introduction of alternative
energy will improve the lifestyle and make economic sustainability
attainable [17]. For example, production of charcoal to fulfill the en-
ergy requirement has a direct implication on economic growth as
people can sell the extra charcoal, and it also helps decrease indoor air
pollution when used as a fuel [18]. This indicates that it is important to
explore the country's potential energy sources so that the level of
poverty will be reduced by availing adequate supply of energy to the
society. Ethiopia's electricity generation is from hydropower; however,
it has been difficult to connect all the regions to the grid because of the
geographical topology of the country makeing it extremely costly to
distribute to the remote areas [19]. More than 85% of the society is not
connected to electricity access [5]. On the other hand, the waste gen-
eration rate is increasing proportionally with the development of the
country as well as population growth. As a result, disposing the gen-
erated waste, municipal solid waste (MSW) having a high amount of
organic constituents, is becoming a devastating problem in the country.
Managing MSW in a sustainable manner should not be undermined
[20]; but MSW, which would have the potential to benefit the energy as
well as the agricultural sectors, can be considered as a loss of resource if
it is not handled properly.
Modern conversion of MSW to energy will overcome environmental
challenges while providing energy for the society [21]. The MSW
generated for example in the city of Jimma alone, located in Oromia
region of Ethiopia, is 88000 kg d−1 , 87% of which is from households
[22]. The study in the capital city, Addis Ababa, also shows that the
waste generation rate ranges from 52 kg cap−1 y−1 to 219 kg cap−1
y−1 [23] depending on the lifestyle and level of income of the house-
holds. In addition to MSW, there are plenty of other residues such as
agricultural residues, forest residues and livestock excreta from daily,
seasonal and annual activities of the society, particularly in rural areas.
Consequently, the aim of this study is to investigate the potentially
available bio-energy from these residues including MSW generated
from some of the major cities of the country.
Biomass resources can be assessed following two approaches:
Resource focused approach and/or Demand driven approach [24].
Resource based approach is the most common approach used all over
the world for biomass and bio-energy potential assessment. This
method considers specific biomass type, such as agricultural residue,
forest residue and their processing by-products [25]. Accordingly, this
paper presents the resource assessment following the resource focused
approach.
2. Methods
Several scholarly published papers are available in Ethiopia, sub-
Saharan countries and other developing countries using only one or two
data gathering tool(s). However, this study touched the possibility of
using the following data gathering tools to examine the potential
availability of biomass energy in Ethiopia. Data are collected from the
Food and Agriculture Organization statistics database (FAOSTAT) [26].
78
Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87
Since there are no scholarly studies published on the area in Ethiopia,
most of the data are sourced from different national and regional offi-
cial reports such as population census [27], agricultural sample survey
data for major crops [28], strategy documents [29] and yearly official
reports within the country. Therefore, the data may be a bit on the
theoretical side and the results, somewhat exaggerated. For missing
data, the data of crops, which are equivalent in yield per hectare and
with similar orientation, are taken (for example, wheat data for barley).
Formulas used for calculation of bio-energy potential from livestock,
MSW, and forest residues are shown below.
2.1. Livestock
Bio-energy potentially available from livestock is calculated using
the equation (1).
n
Ej = 365 ∑ Nij ∗Di ∗ηi ∗LHVi
i=1 (1)
where Ej is the bio-energy potential at location j, Nij is population of
animals of ith species at location j, Di is dry dung output per day for ith
animal species, ηi is collection efficiency of ith animal dung and LHVi is
the lower heating value of ith animal dung.
2.2. Municipal solid waste
The bio-energy potential from municipal solid waste is estimated
using equation (2).
n
Epi = 365 ∑ Ni ∗Qi ∗Pi ∗LHVi
i=1 (2)
where Epi is the bio-energy potential from municipal solid waste at
location i, Ni is human population in ith town, Qi is the quantity of waste
generated per capita per day at ith town, Pi is percentage of waste col-
lected at ith town and LHVi is lower heating value of MSW collected
from ith town.
2.3. Agricultural residues
Even though crop residues have different categories (gross residues
and surplus residues), here only the surplus residues are considered
since the farmers use the others for different purposes. The formula
used for calculating the bio-energy from crop residues is adopted from
Refs. [30,31]. The gross residue has to be determined first as the surplus
residue depends on it and area covered by cultivation and it is given by
equation (3).
n
Rgj = ∑ Aij ∗Yij ∗RPRij
i=1 (3)
where Rgj is gross residue potential at the location j from n amount of
crops, Aij the area of crop i at location j, Yij is the yield ith crop at
location j and RPRij is the residue to product ratio of ith crop at location
j. Data for Ethiopia are taken from FAOSTAT 2014. The RPR values are
sourced from different papers published from developing countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Surplus availability is defined as the fraction of available residues
from crop production after other parts are used for different purposes
[32]. The residue potentially available is estimated from equation (4).
n
Rsj = ∑ Rgij ∗SAFij
i=1 (4)
where Rsj is the surplus residue potential at location j, Rgj is gross re-
sidue potential at the location j from n amount of crops and SAFij is the
surplus availability factor of ith crop at location j [Table 2].
Finally the bio-energy crop residue potential is estimated from
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87

equation (5) as follows, 1994, Ethiopia is recognized by nine regions; Afar, Amhara, Be-
n nishangul-Gumuz (BSG), Gambela, Harari, Oromia, Sumali, Southern
Ej = ∑ Rsij ∗LVHij Nation Nationalities and People's state (SNNP) and Tigray, and two
i=1 (5) federal cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.
where Ej is bio-energy potential at location j, Rsj is the surplus residue
potential at location j [Table 2] and LHVi is the lower heating value of 3. Results and discussion
ith crop.
3.1. Ethiopia's energy policy
2.4. Forest residues
The ultimate goal of the national energy policy is to maximize the
use of modern technologies and renewable energy sources for energy
Residues from forests can be classified into logging residues and
production, reduce imported fossil fuels and save foreign currency. It
wood processing residues from saw milling and plywood processing
also aims to ensure energy efficiency and conservation from both the
[2]. Roots, branches and stumps are included under logging residues
supply and demand side. Currently, climate change has given an alarm
while saw dust, discarded logs and off cuts and barks are considered as
to the world, which indicates the importance of shifting the emphasis to
wood processing residues [33]. The gross bio-energy potential from
a sustainable development model in the sector. The country's vision for
logging residues is calculated from equation (6)
the energy sector is to be a renewable energy hub in east Africa while
n contributing to the country's development through provision of sus-
EPLR = ∑ (QRWi ∗Ri ∗LHVi ⎞⎟ tainable, reliable and affordable energy in an environmentally friendly
i=1 ⎠ (6)
manner [34].
where EPLR is logging residues energy potential, QRWi the quantity of
round wood of ith category, and Ri is the recovery rate for ith round 3.2. Ethiopia's bio-energy policy
wood and LHVi is the lower heating value ith round wood.
The energy from saw milling residues is estimated by using equation Ethiopia is one of the most biomass dependent countries in the
(7). world, with biomass accounting for 92% energy share in the country.
n The major biomass energy consuming activities are household cooking
EPSR = ∑ QRWi ∗R∗LVHi and baking. Almost about 55 million tonnes of biomass is consumed in
i=1 (7) the energy sector, especially in the rural areas where about 80% of the
where EPSR is bio-energy potential from saw milling residues, QRWi is population lives. The policy identifies certain key issues on energy; here
the quantity of round wood of ith category consumed in saw milling, R since the major purpose of this paper is on the bio-energy sector, the
is the saw milling recovery rate [Table 3] and LHVi is the lower heating issues related to bio-energy are discussed below.
value ith category round wood. The energy potential from plywood High dependency on biomass energy will have a great effect on the
residue is calculated from equation (8) economic, social as well as environmental sustainability of the bio-en-
ergy sector in the country. Even though biomass is considered to be
n
renewable, unless it is managed carefully, utilizing biomass for energy
EPPR = ∑ QPW ∗R∗LHV alone will not make it safe; rather it will contribute greatly to the
i=1 (8)
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [34]. The policy also identifies that
where EPPR is bio-energy potential from ply wood, QPW is the plywood there is a huge loss during transportation, production and utilization of
consumed and R is recovery rate and LHV is lower heating value of biomass.
plywood. Even though the bio-energy policy tries to highlight that there is a
huge loss of biomass at each stage (transportation, production and
2.5. Regional states of Ethiopia utilization) of the biomass value chain, it does not clearly state what
kind of losses can be observed at all the stages. There has also been no
Ethiopia is a landlocked country located in the horn of Africa. Fig. 1 effort to explore the stage of cultivation which will have a significant
shows the regional states of Ethiopia; each regional state has its own effect for high losses. In this regard, there is a need of analyzing the
administration which is responsible to the federal government. Since biomass losses as well as associated impacts arising from losses and
activities conducted at each stage. Analyzing the stages of the biomass
life cycle will clearly show where and how much losses there are as well
as what impacts do they have on the environment and socio-economic
activities of the society.

3.3. Bio-energy status in Ethiopia

The government of Ethiopia has made a lot of efforts to create a

better environment for bio-energy production for investors in the
sector. For example, tax exemption for the first five years of production,
importing machineries without tax and free land. Especially since 2007,
great attention has been given to biofuels; particularly, biodiesel from
jatropha and bioethanol from sugarcane molasses. Biodiesel develop-
ment as a fuel was first initiated by a private company, Sun Biofuel
Ethiopia, receiving land for cultivation of jatropha for biodiesel pro-
duction in Benishangul Gumuz regional state [Fig. 1] in early 2006
[35]. Since then other stakeholders have also entered the market, both
from inside and outside the country.
The energy consumption within the country is mainly from biomass
Fig. 1. The map of regional states of Ethiopia.
accounting for about 91%, out of which about 89% is for household

79
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala
cooking and baking both in the urban and rural regions. The remaining
energy share is from petroleum (7.6%) and electricity from hydropower
(1.1%). From the imported petroleum fuel, about 5.1% is consumed in
the transportation sector while the leading sectors of the economy,
agriculture and industry share 0.9% and 0.5% respectively. Projected
energy demand for 2030 within the country is estimated to be 180 PJ
with 71.6% biomass share while the demand for petroleum and elec-
tricity will be increased to 22.6% and 5.6% respectively [34].
Guta studied the potential biomass resources for biofuels in Ethiopia
emphasizing on sourcing strategies for renewable energy [36]. In the
study, the potential biomass resources (crop residue, animal dung and
woody biomass) found in different regions of the country were in-
vestigated. However, the study did not specify the sources of each
biomass residue, i.e. whether the crop residue is from maize or wheat or
sorghum as well as for other residues, which animal is producing more
dung and so on. The potential bio-energy from MSW is also not com-
pletely included in the study. In this study on the other hand, the details
of biomass resources as well as the associated potential bio-energy are
investigated; this clearly shows the decision/policy makers which crop
residue or livestock or forest residue has to be given attention to in
order to maximize bio-energy utilization and production in the country.
3.4. Current biomass consumption as fuel in the country
The current biomass consumption for fuel in Ethiopia is at a high
level when compared to other developing countries. The following
figures show the sectoral and regional biomass consumption as fuel
throughout the country [29].
As shown in the Fig. 2, the share of wood in biomass consumption is
higher in the rural areas of the country, followed by residues and dung.
Charcoal consumption in rural areas is not significant even though it is
produced in these regions for the consumption of urban areas of the
country. In the urban areas of the country, the share of wood as fuel is
still very high while the consumption of residues is relatively low when
compared to the rural areas [Fig. 3]. This is because residues are pro-
duced by farmers as well as consumed there.
In the service sector (mainly hotels), the share of residues is almost
nil whereas wood contributes a substantial share followed by charcoal
[Fig. 4].
The role of wood in fulfilling the fuel demand in the country is very
Fig. 2. Regional biomass consumption distribution of Ethiopia in rural households, 2013.
80
Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87
high both in rural and urban areas of the country. Here, the share of
charcoal is considered separately but its source is entirely woody bio-
mass. Thus, the total share of woody biomass as a fuel within the
country is 73%. In the country, wood is used as a fuel in traditional way
[Fig. 5].
Research has continued to produce interesting findings about the
importance of introducing modern use of woody biomass such as pellet
formation and gasification, but it is still consumed in a traditional way
and charcoal form both in the urban and rural areas. Even the charcoal
is produced in a traditional way by burying the wood underground to
not allow oxygen to enter.
Biomass is produced and consumed highly in three regions of the
country, Oromia followed by Amhara and SNNP [Fig. 6].
3.5. Current bio-energy production potential in Ethiopia
In this section, the current bio-energy production potential from
different feedstocks is calculated. The distribution of bio-energy pro-
duction potential in the different regions of the country is also de-
termined.
3.5.1. Livestock waste
The livestock sector in Ethiopia contributes 12% to the total GDP
and over 45% to the agricultural GDP [37]. There are different cate-
gories of livestock in the country. Basically, the majority of producers in
the country are farmers while some merchants are producing for
commercial purposes only. Though the livestock belong to different
households, they graze on common sites by moving to different parts of
the area throughout the day and then returning to their respective
owners at night. This makes the collection efficiency of residues low.
For the commercial ones, since they are fed collectively at specific
places, the collection of the residues is easier compared to the former.
Since the commercial sector in the country is very small, it plays a lesser
role for the energy sector as compared to the traditional. This is the case
for cattle, sheep and goat. According to the spatial and regional dis-
tribution study conducted by Leta and Mesele [38], Oromia is the lar-
gest producer of livestock followed by Amhara and Southern nation and
nationalities and people (SNNP) [Fig. 7]. The yearly livestock produc-
tion for the five year period also showed that there is a linear trend of
growth from year to year.
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87

Fig. 3. Regional biomass consumption distribution of Ethiopia in urban households, 2013.

But, there was a reduction of livestock production in the year 2015
due to significant livestock loss because of the El Niño-induced drought
in some southern as well as southeastern parts of the country [Fig. 7]
[39].
Pigs and chickens are easy to manage since they are grown in a
specific area and as a result, waste collection is also much easier. Since
the collection efficiency data were not available in the country, data
were approximated from a similar study conducted in another sub-
Saharan country, Zimbabwe. The total bio-energy potential from live-
stock was estimated to be 275.8 PJ y−1 and the potential recoverable
bio-energy was estimated as 140 PJ y−1 which is 50% of the potentially
harvestable potential [40], from which the cattle's share is about 79%
[Table 1]. This is because of the large number of cattle in the country,
5th in the world [27].

Fig. 4. Regional biomass consumption distribution of Ethiopia in the service sector, 2013.

81
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87

Fig. 5. The share of different biomass resources as fuel in Ethiopia, 2013.

Fig. 6. Total regional biomass consumption in Ethiopia, 2013.

3.5.2. Municipal solid waste
Population data were sourced from the 2007 Ethiopian national
census for major towns. Since national census is conducted once every
10 years, the 2007 national census is the most recent and relevant for
this study. The bio-energy potential from major towns of Ethiopia was
estimated to be 3.8 PJ y−1. From this total energy, the share of the
capital city Addis Ababa was 59.2% [Table 2]. An MSW generation rate
of 0.5 kg p−1 d−1 was used for the determination of potential bio-en-
ergy available. This was based on the average of the studies conducted
in different major cities of the country, like Jimma [0.65 kg p−1d−1]
[22], Gondar [0.45 kg p−1d−1] [44] and Addis Ababa [0.4 kg p−1 d−1]
[23].
Energy content of 4.5 GJ t−1 was taken assuming 90% of the waste
is biomass which was not separated during the energy conversion [43].
3.5.3. Agricultural residues
The amount of agricultural residues available for biomass differs
from crop to crop depending on the structure of the plant, seasonal

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E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87

Fig. 7. Livestock production and population distribution by region, in Ethiopia (2012–2016).

variation and also the harvesting methods employed. But, the amount Table 2
of the residue available is directly proportional to the amount of the Bio-energy potential from major towns of the country from MSW.
product [5]. Therefore studies including this one consider residue to
Town Population Waste generated Potential
product ratio (RPR) to determine the potential of agricultural residues (Million) [45] (million kg) bioenergy,
for bio-energy production. The available potential bioenergy from crop PJy−1
residues was estimated to be 550 PJy−1. From the available bio-energy,
only 250 PJ y−1 was assumed as recoverable bio-energy, the share of Addis Ababa 2.74 1.37 2.25
Dire Dawa 0.23 0.12 0.20
maize was highest at about 45% followed by coffee husk (18%) and Arba Minch 0.08 0.04 0.06
sorghum (15%) [Table 3]. The reason behind the high share of maize is Hawassa 0.16 0.08 0.13
that it is the second staple food in the country next to the indigenous Nekemte 0.08 0.04 0.06
crop, teff. The residue from teff is not considered here as most of it is Bishoftu 0.10 0.05 0.08
Asela 0.07 0.03 0.06
already consumed for construction of mud houses and animal feeding in
Adama 0.28 0.14 0.23
rural areas. Maize is widely grown in all regions of Oromia seasonally as Mekele 0.29 0.14 0.24
well as by irrigation and is grown seasonally in the Amhara region. Woldeya 0.05 0.02 0.04
Coffee is the premier commodity accounting for 30% of foreign cur- Dessie 0.12 0.06 0.10
rency from export and is widely grown in Oromia and SNNP states of Debre Markos 0.06 0.03 0.05
Bahir Dar 0.16 0.08 0.13
the country. The production crops in the country was increasing line- Gonder 0.21 0.10 0.17
arly up to the year 2014, but in 2015 because of the El Niño-induced
rainfall, there was a significant reduction in crop production [Fig. 8]. Total energy 3.8
The other available energy is contributed by the crops grown in the
country. The surplus availability factor [Table 3] considered here is
taken from similar studies conducted in developing countries and an From the total wood cut, the potentially available residues are those
east African country, Kenya [46]. left on the field during the cutting process and the residues from pro-
For the non-consumable residues for other purposes like coffee cessing of industrial round wood. Usually, only 25% of the potentially
husk, availability factor of unity is considered and for the crops for available residues are considered as recoverable residues; the rest are
which data were not found from literature, the values of equivalent being used already for different purposes like soil protection.
yield per hectare and similar property crops were taken (for instance for The recoverable potential bioenergy estimated from forest residues
barley, the data of wheat were taken). was to be in the order of 348 PJ y−1[Table 4]. The contribution of
onsite residue was as high as 84% [Fig. 10].
The potentially harvestable residues are residues left in the forest as
3.5.4. Forest residues well as residues left over from the processing of round wood.
The economic growth of the country has increased. As a result, the
deforestation rate has also increased drastically. But recently, the 3.6. Total bio-energy potential in Ethiopia
government of Ethiopia has taken due consideration on rehabilitation
of these forest resources which are now supposed to be 10–30% ac- A total of 750 PJ y−1 technical bio-energy can be recovered from
cording to FAO (2013) report [Fig. 9]. potentially harvested residues throughout the country. The current

Table 1
Bio-energy potential from livestock.

Livestock Population (Million) Dry dung Collection LHV (GJ/t) Potential harvestable bioenergy, PJ y−1
(kg d−1) Efficiency (%)

Cattle 56.7 1.8 [28,29] 45 [41] 13 [42] 217.92

Sheep 29.3 0.4 [43] 35 [43] 14 [43] 20.96
Goats 29.1 0.4 [20,28] 40 [43] 14 [20,29] 23.79
Horses 2.03 3 [20,29] 50 [42] 11 [43] 12.23
Chickens 0.057 0.06 [43] 70 [43] 11 [43] 0.10
Pigs 0.034 0.8 [43] 80 [43] 11 [23,32] 0.87

Total energy 275.87

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E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87

Table 3
Bio-energy potential from agricultural residues.

Crop Type of residue Production amount RPR Surplus availability factor LHV, Potential bioenergy,
(Gg) MJkg−1 PJy−1

Maize Stalk 7200 2 [2] 0.8 [47] 15 [46] 170

Cob 0.27 [29,30] 1 [47] 15.5 [46] 30
Husk 0.6 [46] 1 [47] 12 [46] 52
Wheat Straw 4230 1.75 [46] 0.29 [47] 16.4 [46] 35
Husk 0.23 [2] 0.29 [47] 12.9 [48] 4
Millet Stalk 915 1.75 [46] 0.8 [47] 12.39 [46] 16
Rice Straw 132 1.75 [30] 1 [47] 13.45 [46] 3
Husk 0.275 [46] 0.83 [48] 16 [46] 0.5
Sorghum Straw 4300 1.75 [46] 0.8 [47] 12.38 [46] 75
Cane Bagasse 2820 0.29 [46] 1 [47] 13 [46] 11
Tops &leaves 0.32 [2] 0.8 [47] 15.8 [48] 12
Sweet Potatoes Peels 2700 0.4 [2] 0.8 [47] 16 [48] 14
Barley Straw 2000 1.75 [46] 0.29 19.2 [48] 19
Soybeans Straw 72 2.66 [2] 0.8 [47] 18 [48] 2.8
Pods 1 [2] 0.8 [47] 18 [48] 1.0
Coffee Husk 420 21 [46] 1 12.8 [46] 110

Total 550

Table 4
Bio-energy potential from forest residues.

Type of Potentially Recoverable Energy Potentially

residue harvestable residues content recoverable
amount (Mt) (GJ/t) bioenergy (PJ y−1)
(Mt)

Onsite 73.3 18.4 16 [37] 295

residue
Processing 27.3 6.84 8 [1] 55
residue

Total 350

350 PJ y−1, which is almost 46.6% of the total potential recoverable

Fig. 8. Crop production trends across Ethiopia.
energy consumption in Ethiopia is about 173 PJ y−1 [49]. Eighty per-
cent of this energy is used in traditional manner from biomass. Within
the total 750 PJ y−1, the share of forest residues is as high as
bio-energy. Crop and livestock residues also have a huge potential of
bio-energy at 250 PJ y−1 and 140 PJ y−1 respectively, the remaining
3.8 PJ y−1 potential being the share from MSW from major cities in the
country. Biomass is mainly produced in Oromia, Amhara and SNNP
regional states of the country, accounting for about 38%, 25% and 22%
respectively [Fig. 6]. The remaining 15% is produced in the other re-
gions of the country. Analogously, the bio-energy potential in these

Fig. 9. Round wood and its derivative production in Ethiopia.

84
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala
Fig. 10. Five year (2012–2016) average forest round wood and associated residues which can be used for bio-energy.
regions is very high and less in Harari regional state. Those three re-
gions are the major producers of all kinds of biomass, crop, livestock as
well as forest residues. The reason is that these regions cover larger
territories. The soil in these regions is really fertile and the weather
condition is moderate due to a huge amount of forest coverage. For
example, Oromia produces 46.5% of livestock followed by Amhara
region with 34% [Fig. 7]. This indicates that as there is a huge amount
of bio-energy potential within these regions of the country to the extent
that they can provide other regions with enormous amounts of bio-
energy. However, it should be noted that having a great potential of
bio-energy will not insure the sustainability of the bio-energy sector in
the country.
Even though bio-energy is considered as an important sector in
addressing climate change [50], it is believed by the government as
well as researchers that the unsustainable exploitation of these biomass
resources (natural resources) may lead to long term environmental and
economic problems, such as reduced agricultural productivity, defor-
estation and desertification [49,50]. Accordingly, Ethiopia has devel-
oped a climate resilient green economy strategy (CRCE) as well as
biomass energy strategy in parallel to consider the bio-energy as well as
other energy sectors' environmental sustainability. According to CRCE,
if the current practice in the country, conventional economic develop-
ment path to achieve its ambitious targets for development, continues
as usual the greenhouse gas emissions will more than double, from 150
MtCO2e in 2010 to 400 MtCO2e in 2030 [51]. The mean annual tem-
perature has also increased by 1.3 °C during 1960–2006, estimated as
an average rate of 0.28 °C per decade and expected to be 2.14 °C in
2030 [52]. As a result, the rainfall pattern will also be adversely af-
fected, which in turn will decrease biomass production. According to
Fantahun et al. the production of major crops and pulses will decrease
by 20% due to this environmental change [52]. Consequently the crop
residue production as well as grazing land will be affected pro-
portionally. The final result will be drought and then life and livestock
will be lost. What is happening now in the country due to the reduced
rainfall shows the significant impact of rainfall pattern on the livestock
as well as crop productivity. The reduction of rainfall below average as
a result of the 2015/2016 El Niño-induced drought in the southern and
southeastern parts of the country caused a severe loss in lowland pas-
torlists as well as pocket areas. Consequently, about 5.6 million people
are in need of emergency food assistance this year, 2017. The drought
was higher during the dry season of December 2016 to March 2017,
which led to loss and relocation of livestock over long distances which
in turn decreased their productivity. This impact, Indian-Ocean dipole-
induced drought, affected the crop yield in those areas. Up to 60% yield
85
Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87
reduction of major crops (wheat, maize and teff) was recorded in the
affected woredas (districts) [39] [Fig. 8]. One can easily understand
that the available potential bioenergy will provide the required amount
of energy within the country. But the question is what will happen in
the long run? Therefore, the sustainability issue on biomass production
and utilization should be considered for efficient exploitation of bio-
mass resources in the country.
Above 80% of the population in Ethiopia lives in rural areas which
are completely off grid. They do not have access to modern energy and
it is also difficult to connect those areas to the grid. Thus, introducing
modern technology for the society in rural areas is the only way to
alleviate the problem. Even without going to collect biomass from
forest, efficient utilization of the residues from livestock and crop from
their farmland will significantly improve their lifestyle and save their
time and money. There are efforts by different state organizations in the
area to provide modern cook stoves such as household gasifier and
efficient stoves. These technologies need to be adjusted to different
types of biomass and lifestyle as they are from other countries.
Therefore, an investigation and possible modification is needed to suit
the country's biomass type and properties. Providing efficient and
modern energy will also benefit for rural areas to use by-products and
waste for soil nutrient amendment as they are organic. Doing so will
have not only environmental benefit but also improve the social and
economic wellbeing of the society.
Major cities of the country are the producers of large amount of
MSW, which is creating a great problem within the cities. MSW man-
agement system in the cities of Ethiopia is just collecting the waste from
different areas and dumping to some marginal areas of the city.
Nowadays, it is becoming a huge problem as the cities are expanding
rapidly. Therefore, even though the potential seems lower as compared
to the other bio-energy sources, it can provide a reasonable amount of
energy while reducing environmental burdens. A proper management
of MSW will at least provide enough energy for the service sector, such
as restaurants, bars and hotels, which are also the major producers of
the waste. In short, providing an integrated energy recovery system for
the service sector could decrease the waste generation rate and reduce
their fuel cost.
On the whole, Oromia, Amhara and SNNP are the major potential
producers of biomass and bio-energy. The reason is that the soil in these
regions is naturally fertile, the weather condition also moderate as well
as the area coverage larger. If the practice of bio-energy generation in
these areas is well managed and organized structurally, the social and
economic benefits derived from the sector in addition to the environ-
mental benefits will be enormous. On the other side, Afar and Somali
E.W. Gabisa, S.H. Gheewala
regions are desert areas not suitable for major crop production and so
are not producers of bio-energy; rather they are consumers. But, since
the Afar regional state has good climate conditions and enough water,
there is a huge sugar and ethanol project being developed there. The
latter will contribute to the bio-energy sector while improving the so-
ciety's living standard [53]. The topography of the Tigray region is kind
of mountainous and hilly, which makes erosion easy in the region. The
soil type in the region is sandy which has no capacity to hold nutrients
as well as water. Therefore, producing major energy crops as well as
forestry is difficult in the region, which makes the potential of bio-en-
ergy in the region very low.
3.7. General recommendations for policy makers and researchers
3.7.1. Bio-energy feedstock value chains
The present study has focused on exploring the availability of bio-
energy in Ethiopia because of the potential of understanding the po-
tentiality of energy production from biomass resources available in
Ethiopia. Thus, it is recommended to conduct a detailed study on bio-
energy feedstock value chains and food security to fully realize the
potential availability of biomass energy. Furthermore, it is needed to
quantify how much bio-energy will be produced and what kinds of
feedstock are more productive and in which regions of the country
should they be grown. This should be done in a way that food security
can be attained along with energy poverty reduction. The present new
approach of the bio-energy sector has overcome the former issue of food
and fuel competition by ensuring that bio-energy production should
enhance food productivity potential as well as there should be a sig-
nificant environmental benefit [54]. The technoeconomic as well as
environmental feasibility of bio-energy feedstock chain is also highly in
need of addressing.
For realization of sustainable exploitation of biomass for bio-energy
production, modern livestock raising has a significant effect, and it
needs to have efficient infrastructure that has a tremendous contribu-
tion [55]. Even though promoting bio-energy is a challenge to policy
makers because of the emerging advantages from the sector such as the
technologies are developing rapidly, cost reduction and environmental
benefits developing and implementing policies for bio-energy makes it
attractive as well as feasible [56].
3.7.2. Bio-energy and bio-energy resource data base
There should be a centralized database of existing bio-energy and
bio-energy resources both at the regional and national bureaus of en-
ergy and agriculture. It needs a regular update and be easily accessible
to researchers at different places. There is also a need to enhance the
sector by technological advancement and appropriate training.
Regional and national databases need to be in agreement and there
should be harmonized and integrated database among different stake-
holders, forestry and energy bureau, throughout the country.
3.7.3. Research and development
The bio-energy sector should be fostered by research and develop-
ment by different research institutions as well as universities. Research
should be conducted in a way that each sector can communicate the
results easily and the dissemination and publication from different
sectors should be harmonized. This is an important way to develop the
sector and to avail relevant information for the scientific society. Some
of the issues addressed by research in relation to bio-energy are land use
and land use change, greenhouse gas emission reduction, deforestation,
feedstock diversification and socioeconomic issues. Technology transfer
and community service conducted by university scholars needs to mo-
tivated and incentivized. Bio-energy research trend from developing
countries like Thailand has to be adopted since they are somehow
successful in the area [57]. Unavailability of well-developed technolo-
gies which are feasible for the local conditions makes the sector highly
intensive for research and development [58]. Therefore, developing
86
Biomass and Bioenergy 111 (2018) 77–87
and making available locally feasible technologies are in need of re-
search and development in the country.
4. Conclusion
The study has estimated a total of about 750 PJ per year of re-
coverable bio-energy potential in Ethiopia distributed according to
different feedstocks. The data also shows that the share of bio-energy
potential from livestock waste, agricultural residues and forest residues
is about 19%, 34%, and 47% respectively. This is consistent with the
Bioenergy Strategy Report of 2013, which shows the share of woody
biomass (forest residues) at the highest position followed by crop re-
sidues. Municipal solid waste has also a substantial contribution to the
bio-energy sector if it is managed appropriately. Small scale decen-
tralized bio-energy generation in different areas of regional states will
have a potential to contribute in solving energy poverty, and hence
poverty eradication. An exploitation of this energy at different levels in
the regions of the country will also address the problem of grid elec-
tricity dependency. Integration of different sectors such as forestry,
research and development, universities, and the Ethiopian environ-
mental protection agency and encouraging different private stake-
holders will ensure the sustainability of bio-energy generation and
utilization within the country.
Establishing bio-energy production will play a great role in energy
poverty reduction, greenhouse gas emission reduction and alleviating
socioeconomic problems at large. It will also mean the employment of
many youngsters, and hence address the social problems of the society.
Promoting a modern agricultural system, afforestation and good waste
management system will have a great contribution in the energy sector
of the country. Finally, environmentally, socially and economically
sustainable bio-energy production and utilization needs conducting a
life cycle sustainability assessment along the value chain of the bioe-
nergy, which warrants further study in the area and this will be con-
ducted in subsequent research work.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to gratefully thank King Mongkut's
University of Technology Thonburi for financial support from Petchra
Pra Jom Klao Research Scholarship and also the Joint Graduate School
of Energy and Environment (JGSEE), King Mongkut's University of
Technology Thonburi.
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