Abstract
Biogas is one the promising sustainable energy options due to high
availability of organic wastes. Turkey is an energy importer country and
diversification of the energy production with indigenous resources is vital for
energy security. In Turkey, agricultural activities and livestock farming have
important economic value. Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of organic
wastes such as livestock manure is of great importance for renewable energy
production and waste management for health and environmental protection. In
this study, the animal manure based biogas potential, energy value, greenhouse
gas emission reduction potential and organic fertilizer generation capacity of
the Aegean Region of Turkey were determined. The region is composed of eight provinces
including Afyonkarahisar, Aydın, Denizli, İzmir, Manisa, Muğla, Kütahya, and
Uşak. The results revealed that Aegean Region has 528 million m3/year
biogas potential corresponding to 2.64 TWh energy generation capacity. In
addition, 0.6 million ton/year of organic fertilizer can be produced as the
residual of the biogas plants. Utilization of animal wastes in biogas
generation plants can contribute to the global climate change combat by
reducing CO2 emissions about 4.6 million tons/year. Within the Aegean
Region, Manisa has shown the highest biogas potential whereas İzmir has the
highest amount of organic fertilizer production potential.