Investigation of biomass potential from agricultural waste of Adana province

The fact that fossil fuels are seen as the most important cause of the global climate crisis and that their current reserves are being depleted rapidly compels the world to seek new energy. The energy need, which has become one of the biggest problems in the world, will be solved by moving away from fossil fuels and turning to renewable energy sources. Çukurova Region is a very rich region in terms of energy potential based on renewable resources. In this study, with the survey questions directed to the participants dealing with agriculture in Adana; determinations were made about the types of agricultural products grown in the region and the agricultural wastes released, and the awareness and knowledge levels about stubble fires were measured. It has contributed to the literature by determining the approximate biomass potential of Adana from agricultural waste and developing suggestions for a possible biomass plant that can be built in Adana. According to the statistical data obtained from the Biomass Energy Potential Atlas, the source with the highest biomass energy equivalent was agricultural waste. In this context, a survey was conducted with 205 farmers in Adana province's Ceyhan, İmamoğlu, Karaisalı, Karataş, Kozan, Sarıçam, Seyhan, Yumurtalık and Yüreğir districts where intensive agriculture is practiced. As a result of the survey we conducted, the products grown in the districts were 36.1% wheat, 21.5% barley, 9.5% corn, 7.5% soybean, 7.3% sunflower, 6.3% cotton, 6.1% sugar beet, 2.0% potato, 1.2% vetch, 1.2% pepper, 0.8% citrus and 0.4% olive. Biomass energy equivalent calculations were made using the cultivated area amounts of these grown products. The plant products from which the most energy was obtained were respectively wheat, corn, citrus, sunflower, cotton, soybean, olive, potato, barley, pepper, vetch, sugar beet. It has been observed that the level of awareness about stubble fires, which is one of the important environmental problems of the region, is higher than expected. The answer to the question "Should the stubble be burned?" was answered no by 84.4% and 88.3% of the people consider the stubble burning process harmful. 55.1% of the farmers declared that they do not have knowledge about biomass energy, which is an alternative method. If agricultural wastes can be processed, 46.8% of the participants stated that they can keep these wastes. In line with this information, it is predicted that this rate may increase thanks to the awareness activities for farmers in cooperation with the relevant Ministries, Metropolitan Municipality, district municipalities, universities and related associations.