Energia de biomassa como uma perspectiva para o problema energético e ambiental de São Tomé e Príncipe

Abstract

Among renewable energies, bioenergy is the one with the greatest participation in the global energy mix, corroborating with the various studies carried out in the area. Today, in the scopus search string alone, there are about 31,000 scientific articles in the field. To analyze the large amount of literature in the area, the method of systematic bibliographic review (RBS) was used. The objective of the first article was to understand the bioenergy scenario, answering the 4 questions: What is the bioenergy scenario in the World and in Africa; What are the main cultures used; Which harness technologies are being employed; What are the main benefits and implications that its use brings. For this, the model proposed by Conforto et al. (2011). The results show that, since the year 2000, bioenergy has been promoted as an alternative source of energy and has become part of the policy, which has led to the continuous growth of research. Currently, research around the world is focused on carbon dioxide capture and storage bioenergy (BECCS) and scenario analysis. As for the African continent, although the government is interested in modern bioenergy and in the implementation of several projects related to bioenergy, traditional biomass is still the main source of energy. The cause of this problem is the lack of clear policies and coordination with researchers. Regarding the third question, the most used raw materials are: waste, forest, wood, sugar cane, seaweed, jatobá, oil palm, grass, corn, coal, miscanthus. The use of these raw materials for bioenergy brings many benefits, such as: gender equality, reduction of social inequality, improvement of living conditions, income generation, sustainable economic development, reduction of deforestation, reduction of air pollution and better destination of these waste. Pondering these benefits, the objective of the second article was to analyze the bioenergetic potential of the main energy cultures of São Tomé and Príncipe and to point out some of the benefits that may arise from their use. For this calculation, the formula proposed by the Bioenergy Atlas of Brazil in 2012 was used, obtaining an energy potential of 4.5 GW / year, where 80% of this potential was from two cocoa and banana crops. Considering the potential of these two cultures, the third article proposed the manufacture of briquettes. For this, norms of ISO, NBR of ABNT were adapted, for the immediate analysis and for the other performed analyzes. It was found that it is possible to produce briquettes with these two cultures, without the use of binder and temperature. São Tomé and Príncipe can benefit greatly from bioenergy, increasing the share of renewable energy in its electrical matrix, decreasing the dependence on imported diesel, reducing losses indistribution by installing small decentralized systems and other benefits mentioned throughout this work.