GIS mapping of rice straw residue for bioenergy purpose in a rural area of Assam, India

Agricultural residues are a promising source of biomass energy. However, agricultural residues are seasonally available and loosely distributed over large geographical areas and hence require spatio-temporal assessment. Satellite image is a handy input for such assessment and high resolution image could increase the preciseness of estimation. In the present study, rice cropland is mapped using high resolution WorldView-2 satellite image in a rural area of Assam, India. The rice cropland map in combination with agricultural statistics is then analyzed in GIS in order to assess rice straw availability for potential bioenergy generation. About 54% land of study area belongs to rice cropland, which can contribute 5360 tonnes surplus rice straw per annum (equivalent to 83,296 GJ). Potential electric power capacity from the surplus rice straw in the study area is 523.50 kW. However, at individual village level the potential varies from 4.45 kW to 28.69 kW. Considering the power crisis in India, the findings of this work are expected to assist policy makers and biomass energy developers in decision making process. Particularly, this paper generated information on village level rice straw residue availability and subsequently potential electric power capacity. Such information is limited in the India expect for few states.