Possibility of Using Olive Pomace as a Source for Renewing Energy for Generating Electricity in Libya

Abstract

This paper addresses the possibility o using olive pomace as clean, cheap and renewable as a reliable energy source by which it is able to contribute to total energy. Due to the exceptional circumstances o the country in 2011 and the sabotage and disruption o projects of the General Electricity Company and the Executive Authority of Renewable Energies, which put the general network in difficult and critical situation that led to a large deficit in meeting the demand for electric power, therefore tending to cut the electric power off, for long time intervals. However, it is necessary to work hard to restart the station and think about ways to reduce depence on fossil fuels.

Considering that Libya is a famous country for olive cultivation and production, and according to the annual statistics, olive pomace is available in large quantities of thousands of tons annually, especially for that the cost of this raw material does not exceed 0.1 LD/kg plus the costs of transport and handing which is very cheap when compared to the cheapest heavy oils used in thermal plants.

On the other hand, if we look at what the world is exposed to today due to environmental pollution and global risks of climate change and global warming due to the heavy use of oil and fuel; and on the contrary, the production of biofuels - theoretically means to germinate a tree that absorbs CO2 from air and water H₂O from soil, as well as to use sunrays to convert these elements into either sugars or starches from which biofuels can be produced.

In this paper, samples of olives produced in Libya in successive 29, from 1990 until 2018, were taken. Mathematical equations were applied and programmed by the MATLAB program. It was deduced that electric power can be produced at 9.48 MW as an average for the annual production, 175 thousand ton which covers the third of consumed power for lighting.

Keywords- Olives pomace; biomass; Renewable energies; Potential energy; Energy produced.