**3.1 Areas with energy demand**

a.High demand: This scenario was created based on the number of industries, distance to the industry, and current energy consumption existing in the region. The industries in the Araucanía Region are concentrated in the municipalities of Angol and Temuco. This is because the municipalities are the capitals of the provinces of Malleco and Cautín, respectively. They are also the cities with a large labor and economic importance, along with Villarica, in the Araucanía Region [40]. Conversely, the current energy consumption in the region generally occurs in the municipalities of Temuco, Ercilla, Cunco,

**151**

**Figure 2.**

*Araucanía region.*

*Selection of Optimal Localization for a Biomass Energy Plant that Uses Residual Biomass as…*

b.Potential demand: This scenario was created based on the existing rural electricity required in the Araucanía Region, which is one of the regions with the least amount of rural electricity in Chile [41]. Therefore, the districts with electrical coverage less than 40% were given priority. These districts are principally located in the mountain or costal area of the region and the extreme north and south. The total surface area of the districts with these characteristics was

*Sites with a higher energy demand according to the (a) high demand, (b) potential demand, (c) social demand scenarios, and (d) priority energy demand sites according to the three demand scenarios in the* 

Perquenco, and Freire and to a lesser degree in Angol, Villarrica, and Pucón. These municipalities concentrate the populations; besides, they are located in Ruta 5 road or they are the main touristic centers in the Araucanía Region [40]. Because of the greater consideration placed on the residential electrical consumption (0.5) than that of the quantities of and distances to the industries (0.25 for each one; **Table 2**), the high-demand scenario concentrated on the

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83526*

same municipalities (**Figure 2a**).

447,954 ha (**Figure 2b**).

*Selection of Optimal Localization for a Biomass Energy Plant that Uses Residual Biomass as… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83526*

Perquenco, and Freire and to a lesser degree in Angol, Villarrica, and Pucón. These municipalities concentrate the populations; besides, they are located in Ruta 5 road or they are the main touristic centers in the Araucanía Region [40]. Because of the greater consideration placed on the residential electrical consumption (0.5) than that of the quantities of and distances to the industries (0.25 for each one; **Table 2**), the high-demand scenario concentrated on the same municipalities (**Figure 2a**).

b.Potential demand: This scenario was created based on the existing rural electricity required in the Araucanía Region, which is one of the regions with the least amount of rural electricity in Chile [41]. Therefore, the districts with electrical coverage less than 40% were given priority. These districts are principally located in the mountain or costal area of the region and the extreme north and south. The total surface area of the districts with these characteristics was 447,954 ha (**Figure 2b**).

#### **Figure 2.**

*Biomass for Bioenergy - Recent Trends and Future Challenges*

**Biomass Social** 

Priority areas

Social demand

Potential demand

Electrical network

Priority areas

Electrical network

Current demand

Electrical network

**Table 4.**

**Criterion Social scenario**

**demand**

**Potential** 

1/3 1 1 3 3 3

1/3 1 1 3 3 3

1/5 1/3 1/3 1 1 1

Feasibility scenario

Demand scenario

1/3 1 7 7 7

1/7 1/7 1 1 1

*Valorization of the different criteria used to determine the optimal location of a production plant based on the* 

network

Land use Roads Electrical

network

Land use Roads Electrical

1 1/7 1/7 1/7

7 1 1 1

Land use 7 1 1 1 Road 7 1 1 1

Biomass Current

*biomass according to the social, feasibility, and demand scenarios.*

demand

Biomass 1 3 7 7 7

Land use 1/7 1/7 1 1 1 Road 1/7 1/7 1 1 1

Biomass 1 3 3 5 5 5

Land use 1/5 1/3 1/3 1 1 1 Road 1/5 1/3 1/3 1 1 1

**demand Land use Roads Electrical** 

**network**

**150**

**3. Results and discussion**

**3.1 Areas with energy demand**

a.High demand: This scenario was created based on the number of industries, distance to the industry, and current energy consumption existing in the region. The industries in the Araucanía Region are concentrated in the municipalities of Angol and Temuco. This is because the municipalities are the capitals of the provinces of Malleco and Cautín, respectively. They are also the cities with a large labor and economic importance, along with Villarica, in the Araucanía Region [40]. Conversely, the current energy consumption in the region generally occurs in the municipalities of Temuco, Ercilla, Cunco,

*Sites with a higher energy demand according to the (a) high demand, (b) potential demand, (c) social demand scenarios, and (d) priority energy demand sites according to the three demand scenarios in the Araucanía region.*

c.Social demand: This scenario was based on rural establishments (educational and healthcare facilities and villages), prioritizing the energy supply to these locations. All priority sites under this scenario were located following the central axis with the most populated municipalities, Angol, Victoria, and Temuco [40], distributing to west and southwest of Temuco, covering rural coast municipalities, Carahue, Teodoro Schmidt, Saavedra, and Nueva Toltén (**Figure 2c**).

Information for each of the scenarios was cross-matched linearly to determine the priority energy demand sites. The priority sites occupied an irregular distribution in the territory (**Figure 2d**) and covered approximately 548,134 ha (17.2% of the regional surface).
