Abstract
The increasing demand for cleaner energy sources has intensified the need to diversify the global energy mix and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In Colombia, although hydropower remains the dominant generation source, climate variability and the growing energy demand have highlighted the urgency of exploring alternative, renewable pathways. Agroindustrial residues derived from crops such as oil palm and sugarcane represent a promising yet underutilized resource. In regions like Santander and Norte de Santander, where agricultural activity generates large quantities of residual biomass, inadequate waste management has led to environmental challenges, including soil and water contamination, pest proliferation, and greenhouse gas emissions. This situation highlights the need to improve current waste management practices and explore the potential of these residues as valuable energy carriers. In this context, biomass gasification emerges as a relevant thermochemical route to convert these residues into synthesis gas and green hydrogen, aligning with Colombia’s Hydrogen Roadmap and the broader goals of sustainable energy transition. Considering the above, this project proposed a way to obtain green hydrogen as an alternative for bioenergy generation from potential biomass in the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander. The article evaluated the energy demand of the process and its variation depending on the biomass used, comparing sugarcane bagasse and oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), showing that sugarcane bagasse had the highest energy requirements among the alternatives analyzed, which led to the proposal of a heat exchanger network (HEN) as a strategy to improve the energy performance of the system. Similarly, through the application of the waste reduction algorithm (WAR GUI®), it was identified that the use of sugarcane bagasse has higher environmental impacts compared to oil palm EFB, predominantly those associated with toxicological and atmospheric categories, which provides technical criteria for environmental analysis and decision making in process design.
