A Sustainable Rural Electrification of Morocco Using Stevia Biomass Power Generation: Lessons for Paraguay

Abstract

There is an overreliance of the energy sector of many developed and developing countries on fossil fuels to satisfy their growing energy needs. Paraguay and Morocco are noted to derive the greater share of their energy from fossil fuel imports. However, the high import bills and carbon emissions, as well as the depleting nature of fossil resources have compelled these countries to seek sustainable power sources. Bioenergy from agricultural residues is an example of such sources due to the high agricultural production in Paraguay and Morocco. Therefore, in this study, the potential of electric energy generation from the biomass of three different varieties of Bertoni namely; Gawi, SugHigh3, and Pop in rural regions of Morocco has been analyzed. The analysis showed that the capacity of the electricity generation from stevia biomass for the different regions considered in the study ranged from 421.2 to 16865 W/ha, while the leaf yield and HHV variation for the different varieties ranged between 2.15 t/ha and 7.86 t/ha, and 21.24 MJ/kg and 27.83 MJ/kg, respectively. By considering a 1.66-kW biogas generator with operating hours of 8761 per year and LHV of 26.436 MJ/kg, as well as gasification ratio of 0.7 and 63.1% carbon content for HOMER simulation, a total capacity of 6.64 MW is suggested for installation in Tazuta. The findings indicate that Bertonis dry leaves are excellent biomass resources for energy production in rural regions of Berkane, Larache, Marrakech, Rabat, and Sefrou and they can give us good lessons for rural electrification of Paraguay.