Assessment of potential sites for biogas production plants from domestic, agricultural, and livestock waste

• GIS and AHP are utilized to identify optimal sites for biogas plants in Khuzestan. • Factors like population density, waste availability, and infrastructure are used as the problem criteria. • Ahvaz, Shush, Hoveize, Khoramabad, Shadgan, and Abadan have been recognized as cities with high power generation potential. • The most cost-effective locations for biogas plant construction are in Ahvaz and Shush. Employing biomass energy can potentially play a key role in decreasing the environmental effects of non-renewable energy sources, especially global warming and its consequences. However, the availability of agricultural biomass, municipal garbage, and livestock waste is locally dispersed. The spatial distribution of these resources and the associated collection and transportation costs are the most important critical points for the success of the biomass power conversion facility. The biomass, scattered and loose, has a large cost of collecting and transporting, which can be reduced by proper planning and locating biomass collection centers and biomass-based power plants. Before planning collection centers, it is essential to assess biomass, energy, and the cost of biomass collection in this field. In this study, the biomass feed potential is evaluated using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify sites with biomass feed input capacity. Using the transport planning method, the best city to build the biomass power plant is specified.