Modern use of solid biomass in Africa: Prospects for utilization of agro-waste resources in Nigeria

Abstract

Agro and forest resources are important energy sources in sub-Saharan Africa. However, Nigeria largely depends on conventional energy sources such as electricity and fossil energy carriers such as crude oil and natural gas. Nevertheless, Nigeria is blessed with abundant bioenergy resources presenting significant potential for developing sustainable energy supply to the rural areas and for mitigating the demand-supply gap in the country. Two key agro-waste resources are rice husks and wood wastes were examined. They present enormous potentials for bioenergy development in the rural areas of Nigeria, but awareness on these potentials has to be raised. Furthermore, appropriate regulatory frameworks are needed to use this potential. Therefore, theoretical and empirical analysis of the potentials of modern use of solid biomass in Africa was carried out and is described in this chapter.