Renewable energy technologies are currently competing
favourably in the energy sector, all geared toward achieving a
more sustainable and efficient energy use. Amongst other
renewable sources: solar, hydro, geothermal, wind and biomass,
biomass is amongst the most vastly explored in terms of
research and applications both in the developed and in
under-developed countries. It is a common knowledge that
fossil fuels-based conventional grid extension constitutes the
major centralised power systems from urban areas to rural areas
in most under-developed countries. A scenario that is not only
capital intensive but also economically unrealistic in most cases.
It has been established that more than a quarter of the human
population experiences an energy crisis, especially those living
in the rural areas of developing countries such as Nigeria [1, 2].
Biomass is generally considered as a suitable alternative to
energy from fossil fuels since it can be easily converted to other
forms of energy such as biogas and biofuels [3, 4]. It has been
reported that Nigeria has an installed capacity of 8,425 MW of
electricity but the available capacity is only about 50% of
installed capacity [5]. In Nigeria, energy conservation and
energy efficiency is strongly needed, thus renewable energy
technologies will be essential to the solution and are likely to
play an increasingly important role for providing enhanced
energy access, reduced over-dependence on fossil fuels, and to
help Nigeria meet her vision 20-20-20 clean energy program.
Privatisation of PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria)
has made many States in Nigeria to be pursuing other source of
energy vigorously and Ebonyi State is playing an active role in
that direction. Energy from biomass will play a significant role
in that Nigeria environment is largely polluted with huge
amount of wastes due to rapid urbanisation and poor waste
management practices [6-8].