Sustainability assessment of cinnamon biomass for energy generation

Abstract

Affordable and Clean Energy is the 7th Sustainable development goal of United Nations and to achieve this goal, renewable energy is one of the perfect solutions. Recently gliricidia has been nominated as the 4th energy crop and used for the electricity generation in Sri Lanka. With the increasing demand for Sri Lankan true cinnamon in the global market, there is a gradual growth of cinnamon plantation in Sri Lanka. Hence it was able to generate high yield of cinnamon biomass which would be a promising renewable energy source for energy generation. In this study, it was evaluated whether it is sustainable to use cinnamon biomass for energy generation under the three sustainability pillars; socio, economic and environmental. The study concluded that cinnamon biomass also has the potential as an energy source as well as gliricidia that can contribute for the Sri Lankan energy requirement.