Energy Alternatives at Panigram Resort

Having been in Dhaka for two weeks now, I’ve had the chance to settle into the job of Energy Engineering Intern for Panigram Resort. Initially, I spent my time continuing work on data that Kristin and the previous intern, Molly, had put together, and used that data to come up with a preliminary estimate of how much power and total energy the resort would consume on a daily basis. Armed with this information, my next task was to set out looking for providers of various means of energy generation here in Dhaka.

Doing some research on the climate in Jessore, and having consulted with a professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), I’ve come to believe that wind is not a resource that can effectively power Panigram. However, two clean generation methods have stood out as high potential sources of power in Jessore: solar and biogas power. Jessore, and in fact most of Bangladesh, gets a good deal of sunlight throughout the year, even during the monsoon season. Statistics on the area where Panigram will be show that the sun can provide a good deal of energy for the resort, and now different providers of photovoltaic systems and solar-thermal energy systems have to be looked into. An initial investigation into the implementation feasibility of photovoltaic power systems has already begun, and solar-thermal is to follow shortly.

Photovoltaic systems, however, tend to be costly and come with their fair share of operational difficulties. An alternative that is also highly suitable for the area is biogas power. Given the high level of agricultural activity in Jessore, it should be possible to use raw materials from those processes as fuel for a biomass digester. Jessore’s farmers should be able to provide plenty of cow and poultry dung to run a biomass digester. However, other sources of fuel would be municipal waste, specially grown crops, and even human excrement from the community and Panigram itself!

I believe that biogas power has huge potential for the resort, and its implementation would benefit the surrounding community as well. In addition to collecting municipal waste that might otherwise be inappropriately dumped on streets, we might even be able to establish a system wherein farmers are compensated for handing over their animals’ waste products. With all the fuels mixed into Panigram’s biomass digester, anaerobic fermentation would be allowed to occur until the fuels are converted into biogas and slurry. The slurry could then be returned to the farmers and used by the community, as it serves as high-grade organic fertilizer, and the biogas would be used as cooking gas at the resort.

However, I also hope that an efficient enough system can be implemented to convert the biogas into electric power. The problem with this is that the electricity generation process is typically very inefficient. One possible solution would be using a cogeneration engine, in which what would be waste heat from the electricity generation process is collected and used for (water) heating purposes around the resort. The advantage of biogas-based electricity (other than being eco-friendly) is that it is a dispatchable power source, meaning that electricity can be produced on demand by combusting more biogas (as opposed to solar PV power, which is subject to the weather’s moods). Now, onwards to making all this possible!