Potential of Biogas and Bioelectricity Production from Rohingya Camp in Bangladesh: A Case Study

Abstract Current refugee influx has become an impediment for economic growth and environmental safety worldwide, particularly during the last decade. Challenges for additional space requirement to dispose waste produced by refugees, and fuel and energy requirement to fulfill the demand for additional population has become a major burden on hosting countries. Bangladesh is one such country accommodating over 1.2 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar since 2017. It has provided temporary housing to this large number of refugees in Cox’s Bazaar district. To mitigate this additional energy demand, utilizing via biogas production, from the organic waste of the refugee camps, may contribute significantly. This case study aims to determine the present and future waste generation of Rohingya camps and assess the present and future biogas resource potential in Rohingya camp via a bottom-up analysis approach. Municipal solid waste has been considered for the projection of biogas production through anaerobic digestion process. The simulation outcome presented that, in 2019, organic fraction from generated waste was 110.98 Million ton (Mt) and in 2025 it is projected to be 136.56 Mt. Biogas potential from that organic fraction in 2019 is 7.16 Mm3 which will increase to 14.43Mm3 in 2025.