Biomass energy potential and future prospect in Sudan

Sudan is an agricultural country with fertile land, plenty of water resources, livestock, forestry resources, and agricultural residues. Sudan is an energy importing country and the energy requirements have been supplied through imports that have caused financial problems. Because of the economical problems in Sudan today, the Sudanese energy policy should be concentrated on assurance of energy supply, reliability, domestic sufficiency, and in time, on economic terms, and renewability. Energy sources are divided into two main types; conventional energy (biomass, petroleum products, and electricity); and non-conventional energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc.). Sudan possesses a relatively high abundance of solar radiation, and moderate wind speeds, hydro, and biomass energy resources. Therefore as a renewable energy source, biomass (especially fuelwood) seems interesting because its share of the total energy production at 87% is high and the techniques for converting it to useful energy is easy. On the other hand, biomass may, however, see greatly expanded use in response to the environmental problems caused by fossil fuel use in the country. Like many tropical countries, Sudan has ample biomass resources that can be efficiently exploited in a manner that is both profitable and sustainable. Fuel-wood farming offers cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy solutions for Sudan, with the added benefit of providing sustainable livelihoods in rural areas. This article provides an overview of biomass energy activities and highlights future plans concerning optimum technical and economical utilization of biomass energy available in Sudan. Biomass has been proposed to have a central role to play in future, more sustainable energy scenarios. For this to become a reality, several real problems need to be overcome. In Sudan, as in other developing countries, modernization of biomass energy provision is an urgent necessity for the sake of human health, protection of the environment, and climate change abatement. Given sufficient recognition, resources and research biomass could become the environmentally friendly fuel of the future. Results suggest that biomass energy technologies must be encouraged, promoted, implemented, and fully demonstrated in Sudan.