Comparative analysis of the theoretical–technical potential of rice straw bioenergy in South Korea

Environmental pollution and climate change have rendered the development of renewable energies essential for future generations. Although several studies have been conducted on renewable energy potential, they have focused on theoretical energy potential, which is not applicable to regional planning. In this study, we evaluated the technical potential of rice straw bioenergy at the regional scale; also, we compared the spatial distributions of the technical and theoretical potentials. Whereas the theoretical potential of bioenergy was assessed under the assumption that all residues would be collected and used for bioenergy production, the technical potential was evaluated considering the bioethanol yield and the volume of resources used for other purposes. We estimated that the theoretical potentials in the years 2010 and 2015 were 16,922,541 toe/year and 15,618,853 toe/year, respectively; on the other hand, the technical potentials in the years 2010 and 2015 were 2,344,173 toe/year and 1,557,245 toe/year, respectively. Performing a spatial analysis, we also discovered changes in the sites with high potential. These results can be employed in the selection of new bioenergy plant sites or in deciding the location of collected biomass storing facilities.