Renewable energy in Bangladesh

Renewable energy in Bangladesh refers to the use of renewable energy to generate electricity in Bangladesh. The current renewable energy comes from biogas that is originated from biomass,[1] hydro power, solar and wind.[2][3]

Solar power
Solar potential of Bangladesh

The long term average sunshine data indicates that the period of bright sunshine hours in the coastal regions of Bangladesh varies from 3 to 11 hours daily.[4] The insolation in Bangladesh varies from 3.8 kWh/m2/day to 6.4 kWh/m2/day at an average of 5 kWh/m2/day. These indicate that there are good prospects for solar thermal and photovoltaic application in the country.[5]

With an estimated 40% of the population in Bangladesh having no access to electricity, the government introduced a scheme known as solar home systems (SHS) to provide electricity to households with no grid access.[6] The program reached 3 million households as of late 2014 and, with more than 50,000 systems being added per month since 2009, the World Bank has called it "the fastest growing solar home system program in the world."[7]

The Bangladeshi government is working towards universal electricity access by 2021 with the SHS program projected to cover 6 million households by 2017.[8]

Wind power

The long term wind flow, especially in the islands and the southern coastal belt of Bangladesh indicate that the average wind speed remains between 3 and 4.5 m/s for the months of March to September and 1.7 to 2.3 for remaining period of the year.[9] There is a good opportunity in island and coastal areas for the application of wind mills for pumping and electrification. But during the summer and monsoon seasons (March to October) there can be very low pressure areas and storm wind speeds 200 to 300 km/h can be expected. Wind turbines have to be strong enough to withstand these high wind speeds.[10]

Tidal power

The tides at Chittagong Division are predominantly semidiurnal with a large variation in range corresponding to the seasons, the maximum occurring during the south-west monsoon. In 1984, an attempt was made by mechanical engineering department of KUET to assess the feasibility of tidal energy in the coastal regions of Bangladesh, especially at Cox's Bazar and at the islands of Maheshkhali and Kutubdia. The average tidal range was found within 4-5 meter and the amplitude of the spring tide exceeds even 6 meter.[11] From different calculations, it is anticipated that there are a number of suitable sites at Cox's Bazar, Maheshkhali, Kutubdia and other places where permanent basins with pumping arrangements might be constructed which would be a double operation scheme.[12][13]

Wave energy

Bangladesh has favorable conditions for wave energy especially during the period beginning from late March to early October. Waves generated in Bay of Bengal and a result of the southwestern wind is significant.[14] Maximum wave height of over 2 meter with an absolute maximum of 2.4 meter were recorded. The wave periods varied from 3 to 4 seconds for waves of about 0.5 meter and about 6 seconds for waves of about 2 meter.[4]

Waste to electric energy

In order to save the large cities from environmental pollution, the waste management as well as electricity generation from the solid wastes programme is being taken by the government.[15]

Biogas

There mainly two types of biogas plants used in Bangladesh, floating dome type and fixed dome type. Bag type plants are also used in the country but rarely.[16][17][18]

Geothermal energy

Geothermal potential of Bangladesh is yet to be determined. Different studies carried out by geologists have suggested possible geothermal resources in the northwest and southeast region.[19][20] Among the studied areas of northwest region, Singra-Kuchma-Bogra area, Barapukuria coal basin area, and the Madhyapara hard rock mine area − with temperature gradient above 30 °C/km and bottom hole temperature in excess of 100 °C[19]− meet the requirements of binary cycle power plants. But to reach a foregone conclusion on exploiting the resource in a viable, feasible and economically profitable way, extensive research is required. In 2011, Anglo MGH Energy, a Dhaka-based private company announced the construction of 200 MW geothermal plant, first ever of such kind, in Thakurgaon district.[21] But for some unknown reasons, this project never commenced, and no development in this field has been announced afterwards.

The benefits of renewable energy in Bangladesh

Expanding capacity in the electricity sector can be achieved cost-effectively through clean energy options (renewables and energy efficiency), which not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also increase jobs and improve human health by reducing air pollution. According to a report from the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) and based on detailed modelling analysis, the benefits of increasing clean energy in Bangladesh's power generation mix relative to ‘business-as-usual’ could generate the following cumulative results by 2030:

  • reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20%
  • generate domestic employment of up to 55,000 full-time equivalent jobs
  • Potential to produce additional electricity of 30 GW[22] from the utilisation of solar PV and 53 gigawatt (GW)[23] of electricity potential from all solar sources.
  • save up to 27,000 lives, and over US$5 billion (BDT 420 billion).[24]
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See also

References
  1. http://www.altenergy.org/renewables/biomass.html/
  2. Islam, Mazhural. "Renewable Energy Prospects & Trends in Bangladesh" (PDF). Bangladesh Power Development Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  3. Akter, Nasima. "Alternative Energy Situation in Bangladesh: A Country Review" (PDF). APPROTECH ASIA Philippine Social Development Center, Philippines. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  4. Mohammad Aslam Uqaili; Khanji Harijan (2011). Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development. Springer. p. 19. ISBN 9783709101094.
  5. Tom P. Hough (2006). Solar Energy: New Research. Nova Publishers. p. 309. ISBN 9781594546303.
  6. "Bangladesh Solar Program To Reach 13 Million More People". Energy Matters. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  7. Xinhua News Agency (5 November 2014). "Roundup: Bangladesh to install 3 mln more solar home systems in 3 years". GlobalPost. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  8. Pantho Rahaman (25 January 2015). "Bangladesh aims to be world's 'first solar nation'". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  9. The Dhaka University Journal of Science, Volume 55. University of Dhaka. 2007. p. 53.
  10. CAJ Paulson (2001). Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies. Csiro Publishing. p. 1098. ISBN 9780643105720.
  11. B. W. Flemming; A. Bartoloma (2009). Tidal Signatures in Modern and Ancient Sediments: (Special Publication 24 of the IAS) Volume 28 of International Association Of Sedimentologists Series. John Wiley & Sons. p. 329. ISBN 9781444304145.
  12. Tom Koppel (2007). Ebb and Flow: Tides and Life on Our Once and Future Planet. Dundurn. ISBN 9781459718388.
  13. "Harnessing tidal power". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  14. "Wave-based power plant takes shape in Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  15. Ms Ira Martina Drupady, Assoc Prof Benjamin K Sovacool (2013). Energy Access, Poverty, and Development: The Governance of Small-Scale Renewable Energy in Developing Asia. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9781409471660.
  16. "Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)". Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  17. Michael D. Brenes (2006). Biomass and Bioenergy: New Research. Nova Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 9781594548659.
  18. Sai Felicia Krishna-Hensel (2012). New Security Frontiers: Critical Energy and the Resource Challenge. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 75. ISBN 9781409419792.
  19. D.K. Guha, H. Henkel, and B. Imam, “Geothermal potential in Bangladesh - results from investigations of abandoned deep wells,” Proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress 2010, Bali, Indonesia, April 2010.
  20. M. Rahman, “Geothermal potential resources in Thakurgaon district, northern Bangladesh,” Bangladesh Journal of Geology, 25:13-30, 2006.
  21. "Anglo MGH Energy proposes 200 MW geothermal plant in Bangladesh - report". Renewables Now. Mar 8, 2011. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  22. "Bangladesh towards 100% renewable energy". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  23. Khan, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir (4 April 2018). "Pessimism regarding renewable energy's potential". bdnews24.com (Opinion). Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  24. "LEDS in practice: The benefits of clean energy policies in Bangladesh". Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP). Retrieved 2017-07-12.
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