DETERMINATION OF THE AREAS SUITABLE FOR BIOGAS ENERGY PRODUCTION BY USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS): EUPHRATES BASIN CASE

Abstract

One of the agricultural activities in our country is animal breeding. The animal manure from cattle breeding enterprises can be used as an organic material in producing biogas. The energy needs of agricultural enterprises can be met by establishing biogas production facilities. At the same time, environmental pollution can also be prevented. With today's information and technology, it is possible to investigate the areas suitable for biogas energy stations. The aim of this study is to determine the potential areas in the Euphrates Basin which are suitable for biogas plants. The Euphrates Basin covers Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Gaziantep and Kilis provinces. In this context, the borders of the provinces subjected to the study and the topographic properties of the region were drawn using ARCMAP 10.0 software. Furthermore, cattle numbers were entered into the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database. The potential biogas areas in each province were determined and these areas were tried to be interpreted in different colours. In the study area, it was determined that the potential biogas energy of 862863.7 MJ or electricity energy of 239684.4 kWh would be obtained from approximately 2061883.4 tonnes of animal waste per year. It was determined that these values were equal to an amount of the annual energy capacity needs of 103 houses. Biogas energy production facilities can be established in the places which have an intensive agricultural activity and this can eliminate environmental pollution problems.