Comparison of annual energy production in hydroelectric plants with bioenergy in terms of emission differences and its effects on global warming

The world's energy consumption and demand are increasing on a daily basis. Turkey's total electricity demand is increasing rapidly in parallel with its industrial and economic development. Between 1980 and 2020, the total installed power of electricity generation increased from 5118.7 MW to 95890.6 MW. In the same period, the gross demand increased from 24616.6 GWh to 306703,1 GWh. The installed power in Turkey has been reported as 103235.25 MW as of 4.11.2022. This figure was 99819.6 MW in 2021. It was observed that the installed capacity increased by 3.42%. Renewable energy's percentage of total installed power climbed from 33.4% to 51.3% between 2005 and 2020, and at the same time, its part of total generation increased from 24.6% to 42.3%. Although there was an increase of 146.9% and 89.2% in total installed power and total generation, respectively, these increases were 279.8% and 225.4% in renewables. Thus, increases were achieved in the share of renewables in both installed power and total generation. Since the generation in hydroelectric power plants varies due to the resource factor, fluctuations are also observed in the total renewable generation and its share. Despite the increase in installed power, the use of fossil fuels continues actively due to the insufficient production with only renewable energy source in Turkey, as the energy demand also increases. Furthermore, it is well understood that the cost of foreign dependency on fossil fuels is high. The world's unconscious consumption of fossil fuels increases the greenhouse gas effect. Different ways bring the impacts of global climate change, one of the results of greenhouse gas emissions, on humanity to light. It is evident that climate change increases the frequency of unusual meteorological occurrences and contributes to socioeconomic concerns in various nations. First the Kyoto Protocol and subsequently the Paris Climate Agreement were ratified by the worldwide community in an effort to stop climate change and limit the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. If fossil fuels remain the primary energy source, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that worldwide energy-related CO2 emissions will continue by almost 50% by 2030. If the predicted comes true, it will be inevitable that there will be many negative problems on Earth. Considering the negative consequences of global warming and foreign dependency in energy supply, the search for renewable energy sources has become inevitable. In comparison to other energy sources, hydroelectric power has the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kilowatt hour (kWh). Over its entire life cycle, A coal power station typically emits 820 gCO2-eq/kWh of carbon dioxide, compared to 18.5 gCO2-eq/kWh for a hydroelectric power plant. With this knowledge, it is clear that hydroelectric power facilities emit 97.7% fewer greenhouse gases than coal-fired power plants. Hydroelectric energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 96.2% compared to natural gas, 92% compared to biomass, 61.5% compared to solar energy and 51.3% compared to geothermal energy. Nevertheless, compared to hydroelectric energy, wind energy offers a 40.5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Using water in energy production compared to fossil fuels such as coal means preventing 8 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 62 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 148 million tons of particles released into the atmosphere. Renewable energy sources (hydraulic, biomass, wind, geothermal, wave, solar etc.); It is of great importance due to its economically valuable features such as being a domestic resource in the energy policies of countries, contributing to energy supply security, being clean, and contributing to the reduction of emissions in the fight against global warming. Bioenergy and hydroelectric energy, which are accepted as renewable energy sources, have been studied and evaluated. First of all, in-depth literature research was conducted and scientific studies were examined in detail. In the study, the Eastern Black Sea Region, which is quite suitable for the installation of hydroelectric power plants in Turkey due to its geographical features, was chosen. For bioenergy power plants, a sample was selected from power plants producing in various parts of Turkey. In the comparison of two renewable energy sources, many parameters such as amortization, installation costs, maintenance costs, production gains, government incentives, raw material supply processes, transmission line losses, carbon emissions, which were determined in the literature studies, were assessed and interpreted in light of information gathered by authorities on the ground. While hydroelectric energy and biofuels was compared to power plants in the literature, the two types of energy were compared in common in the study. During this comparison, a comprehensive study was conducted using the data of 19 hydroelectric power plants and 14 bioenergy power plants. The total installed power of the power plants selected from the Eastern Black Sea Region is 241.24 MW. In Turkey, the installed power of river type hydroelectric power plant is 8293 MW according to TEİAŞ September 2022 report. The ratio of selected power plants to all power plants is 2.9%. According to the TEİAŞ September 2022 report, the number of river type power plants is 609. The ratio of the sampled power plants to all river type power plants is 3.11%. The total installed power of the selected bioenergy plants is 157.01 MW. The installed power of bioenergy power plants in Turkey is 1822.9 MW according to the TEİAŞ September 2022 report. The ratio of the selected power plants to all power plants is 8.6%. According to the TEİAŞ September 2022 report, the number of bioenergy power plants is 383. The ratio of sampled power plants to all bioenergy power plants is 3.6%. Because the research is being conducted based on information gathered from field personnel, it is also original in terms of practical knowledge. The data was statistically examined using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) application. As a consequence of these assessment, the advantages and disadvantages of hydroelectric power plants and bioenergy power plants were revealed. Due to the topographic structure of Turkey, the number of hydroelectric power plants and their installed power are considerably higher than bioenergy plants. In addition, the installation costs, emission amount, maintenance costs and transmission line losses of hydroelectric power plants are more advantageous than bioenergy, and the amortization period of bioenergy plants is advantageous compared to hydroelectric power plants. In environments where precipitation regime is appropriate, hydroelectric power plant installation can be considered to be suitable and continuous compared to bioenergy plants. In geographical places where the precipitation regime is not regular, it may be regarded that the building of a bioenergy plant will be favorable according to the raw material that is acceptable for supply. Because the emission rate of two renewable energy sources is far lower than that of fossil fuels, it is possible that they will mitigate the detrimental impacts of global warming. Investments in renewable energy sources are predicted to increase, as fossil fuels also generate foreign reliance and greenhouse gas emissions, and government incentives are also expected to promote and assure the sustainability of these investments.