Prospects of Bioenergy Production for Sustainable Rural Development in Ghana

Biomass supplies about 80% of the energy needs for cooking and heating in rural Ghana. It is predominantly used in traditional and inefficient forms (firewood and charcoal), which presents environmental and health concerns. In order to better the living standard in rural Ghana, efforts must be made to provide modern energy services. Most rural communities in Ghana are so remote that an extension of the national grid is uneconomical, hence biomass electricity provides a viable alternative. Biomass is pivotal to the socio-economic development of rural Ghana due to its easy accessibility and enormous potential in the production of varied energy forms. In this paper, a comprehensive review of biomass resources, biomass energy conversion technologies and bioenergy production potential for rural development in Ghana is provided. The most important feedstock from an energy perspective was found to be crop residues. Based on 2017 statistics, Ghana has a theoretical potential of 623.84 PJ of energy from agricultural crop residues and 64.27 PJ of energy from livestock production. Evidence from literature suggests that biomass gasification is the best conversion technology to expand electricity access rate for rural households in Ghana. The paper concludes that although ample biomass resources exist, cocoa pod husks (CPH) which is very common in rural Ghana can be pelletized and used as feedstock for rural power generation systems.