Context:

The region Madre de Dios is located in Peru and is conditioned by the dispersed way in which the people establish settlements. This configuration limits the access these rural settlements have to energy (currently, the rural electrification only reaches 31%). Thus, this investigation focuses on determining distributed energy poles through the use of residual biomass in Madre de Dios region.

Method:

Through a methodological scheme of four phases, the electric coverage in Madre de Dios was analyzed and the rural settlements with better energization chances were prioritized. Next, the amount of agricultural biomass waste of major crops in Madre de Dios was determined and geographically located; then, the technological options of energetic harnessing were analyzed. Finally, the amount of agricultural biomass waste that can be used for energy was estimated.

Results:

Five rural settlements were prioritized in Madre de Dios for the possible process of providing energy. The agricultural biomass waste was estimated in 6,645.08 ton/year for rice; 5,191.20 ton/year for yellow corn; and 7,862.37 ton/year for banana. These are the three major crops in the region. For rice husk located in productive areas, the energy was estimated to vary between 838.86 KWh/year and 1,319.23 KWh/year through the use of mobile bed gasifiers; and it varies from 317.99 KWh/year to 897.56 KWh/year for fluidized bed gasifiers, which meets the energetic demand of the prioritized rural settlements (211.9 MWh/year).

Conclusions:

The region of Madre de Dios has potential for generating distributed energy, which could meets the demand of five prioritized rural settlements up to 100%. Likewise, using fluidized bed gasifiers, the energy generated in Madre de Dios could meet the demand of 1495 inhabitants, approximately; and by using of mobile bed gasifiers, the coverage could amount to 3945 inhabitants