Site suitability analysis of solar powered non wooden biomass briquetting plant in Gambella Region

Abstract

Biomass briquetting can provide a great opportunity for alternative cooking energy source; improve living standard of the people and ensure sustainable development of county. The finding of this research reveal that Gambella region is blessed with abundant biomass with savanna and woody savanna covering 77% of the land in the whole region that’s more of forest and agricultural waste. Making use of these resources can ensure both renewable and sustainable cooking energy supply. Therefore, this thesis aims to select optimal site for the establishment of solar powered non-wooden biomass briquetting plant throughout the region. Different spatial and non-spatial data such as solar radiation, slope, land use/land cover (LULC), proximity distance to road, proximity distance to river, and proximity distance to town have been used to identify and map the area. These parameter data are taken from 30 meter resolution of DEM such as solar radiation, slope and river streams. Collection 6 MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Land Cover shape file was downloaded from earth explorer at resolution of 500m which was then reclassified based on the legend and resampled to 30m resolution. Analytical Hierarchy process (AHP) was used for calculation of the criteria weighted overlay to produce a suitable solar farm site map. The result indicates the availability of raw materials which is land use land cover in this context is most influential factor with weight of 46.58% followed by strength of solar radiation (20.42%), slope (15.52%), proximity to road (8.26%), proximity to river (5.46%) and proximity to town (3.77%). With the suitability of each parameters and application of weight in ArcGIS spatial analysis tool, suitability map was produced and the highly suitable map is located along North South line through central Gambella Region covering an area of 12,094.49 𝑘𝑚2 that is 47% of the study area