Estimated View of Renewable Resources as a Sustainable Electrical Energy Source, Case Study

Abstract

Renewable energy resources for energy generation in the Gaza Strip (GS) emerge as a complementary resource, not only to meet the need of society for energy in various forms, but also to find available, sustainably, and less costly resources for institutions as with individuals. These resources could provide safety in use, increase energy security, and address environmental concerns. This work aimed to assess the renewable energy potential in the GS, which has few natural resources and a real crisis in energy supply. Therefore, an integrated evaluation methodology is assumed for renewable energy potential; the methodology comprises mathematical as well as software programming to assess the renewable energy. The results reveal the assessment of the existing four renewable energy sources: solar, wind, wave, and biomass. The estimations exhibit that the solar and biomass resources are dominant. The methodology consists of mathematical models for calculating the energy outputs from different resources in the study area. ArcGIS 10.1 software used for calculating solar radiation, WindSim 9.0.0 software for estimating wind energy and OpenWEC software tool for evaluating the force stored in coastal waves. The potential of each energy and the integration of all are depicted in individual maps by ArcGIS. It was found that if anaerobic digestion technology is applied, 65.15 MW electric power could be produced from about one-and a third million tons/year of biomass. Depending on the available statistical data due to the specified annual time period and the household electric demand that is about 120 MW at the corresponding time, this means that the energy from biomass can cover more than half of the demand. In addition, solar energy potentials were estimated to reach 1195 GWh/year. Therefore, the existing power may be replaced by biomass and solar energy. It also demonstrates that the energy potential maps can be used as metrics for possible sustainability projects in the GS.