**8. Discussion**

A critical analysis of the potential of biomass as an energy source has been presented. The analysis shows that Tanzania has abundant biomass resources for modern power genera‐ tion. It is evident from the analysis that a large potential exist for exploitation of available biomass to be converted into modern energy. Thus, it is the role of the government, private companies, NGOs, and individuals to increase the share of renewable energies i.e. biomass within the national energy mix. Since biomass is the most important renewable energy source used in the country, the demand for biomass as energy resource will inevitably in‐ crease in the near future.

To what extent biomass will penetrate future energy markets in the country; this depends on various aspects; e.g. availability of the resources, the costs of biomass fuels, the develop‐ ment of conversion technologies, cost of converted biomass energy, and social and/or insti‐ tutional factors. The use of agricultural crop residues, animal waste, and industrial waste as energy sources is a promising opportunity to reduce pressure on energy supply. Since the use is, in the most cases, in compliance with sustainability criteria such as protection of re‐ sources, compatibility with environment and climate, social compatibility issues, low risk and error tolerance, and furthermore, it promotes economic efficiency.

Biomass could meet the primary energy demand of the country. And a considerable share could be used for modem power generation within the different conversion routes; the ther‐ mal- chemical conversion routes offer opportunities for those residues which are predomi‐ nantly dry such as rice straw and husk. In view of the availability of waste biomass e.g. food waste, industrial waste, city and municipal solid waste (CMSW) anaerobic digestion is a promising route.

Within the biological conversion technologies, the development of power generation from biogas is at advanced stage. Currently there are more than 6,000 biogas plants in operation. More plants are expected to be in operation in the future. However, awareness on use of bio‐ gas in particular to areas with large forks of livestock is still low. This is a challenge to the developers of biogas plants.

There is an increasing interest in gasification technologies for power generation, but a com‐ mercial implementation has not yet been received since there are still draw backs such as system reliability, high operation and maintenance cost, which has to be solved first.

Co-generation technology is the only technology at advanced stage of implementation in the country; in particular to sugar processing plants. Electricity generated from these plants is used by the same plants and the excess is supplied to the nation grid. It is anticipated that with "Kilimo Kwanza"[28] initiatives are in the pipe line, production of sugar is expected to increase in the near future; hence more electricity is expected to be generated and supplied into the grid.

Modern energy generation from biomass resources has a great potential in saving for rural energy needs with sustainable benefits. The existing biomass conversion technology such as co-generation, biogas and recently improved thermo-chemical, could be effectively utilized in the process of energy conversion from biomass.

These technologies should be used in the right way to utilize the available biomass energy potential. The power generation from biomass would make the rural areas productivity. The use of local resources would also enhance the employment opportunities and income gener‐ ation in the rural areas. The available biomass potential in the country should be used to take the nation towards a clear and secure energy source.
