5 th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation - August 25-28, 2014 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil TECHNO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND AGRO-INDUSTRIAL WASTE-TO-ENERGY POTENTIAL IN BRAZIL JOANA PORTUGAL-PEREIRA 1* , RAFAEL SORIA 1 , RÉGIS RATHMANN 1 , ROBERTO SCHAEFFER 1 , ALEXANDRE SZKLO 1 1 Energy Planning Program, COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil *Corresponding author: portugal.pereira@ppe.ufrj.br, joanaportugal@gmail.com +55-21-9847-93622. Keywords: Bioenergy potential; GIS mapping; Residues; Climate change mitigation, Brazil. Abstract This study aims to quantify the technical, sustainable and economically feasible potentials of agricultural and agro-industrial residues to generate electricity via direct combustion in centralized power plants in Brazil. Further, the energy savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential of replacing diesel-based electricity by bioenergy have been assessed. To this end, an integrated statistical, a GIS-based analysis and a life cycle assessment have been conducted. Results reveal that the technical and sustainable potential is nearly 141 TWh/yr, mainly concentrated in the South, Southeast, and Midwest regions. The residues of sugarcane, soybean and maize crops are the major feedstock for available bioenergy. On the other hand, the economic potential is far lower, accounting to 39 TWh/yr. The total GHG mitigation is nearly 28 million tCO 2e and could reach 102 million tCO 2e yearly, if the technical potential is considered. The gap between technical and economic potentials implies that constrains to bioenergy are not related to a lack of resources, and as such further policies should be implemented to foster the penetration of bioenergy in the electricity generation portfolio of Brazil. 1- INTRODUCTION The Brazilian power sector is on a knife-edge. Historically, the country has been a World leader on renewable energy, with the share of hydropower and bioelectricity making up approximately 85% of the country’s electricity generation portfolio in 2013 [1]. However, year after year, this contribution has been decreasing. On the one hand, on the demand side, in the last decade, the electricity consumption increased two-fold up to 516 TWh, partly due to the rising quality of life of an emerging middle-class. On the other hand, on the supply side, the expansion of hydropower plant projects has been limited due to socio-environmental conflicts [2][3]. Aggravating the situation, in the summer of 2013 the country faced a very serious drought, which reduced the water level in reservoirs and their generating capacity, highlighting the vulnerability of the country’s supply towards extreme weather events [4][5]. Reflecting the susceptibility of the sector, recently the Fitch Ratings financial agency reduced the Brazil’s trust level of investment fearful of pressures on the energy supply sector and its impacts on the economic sustainability [6]. Forecasts predict that electricity consumption will double from 2010 levels to 1100 TWh in 2035 [7]. Following a business-as-usual scenario, this growth will likely come from fossil fuel resources [8]. In recent years, the Brazilian government has announced aggressive investments to explore pre-salt oil and gas reserves and even unconventional natural gas