Assessment of Selected Biomass Energy Potential in Afghanistan

Biomass plays a major role in satisfying the energy needs of Afghanistan, especially in the residential sector where fuel demand is primarily met in the form of fuelwood, charcoal, crop residues and animal manure. Till now, enough work has not been undertaken to assess the biomass energy potential in the country to support renewable energy development plans and more sustainable use of biomass resources. This paper is limited to the assessment of biomass energy potential from the following resources: (A) forest fuelwood and charcoal, (B) crop residues (wheat, rice, barley and maize residues) and (C) cattle manure for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14. The study assesses a total biomass energy potential of 97,310 TJ during the period 2012-13 and 99,012 TJ during the period 2013-14. It is observed that only about 52% of the estimated biomass energy potential is being exploited. The estimated energy potential of the selected biomass could contribute up to 69% in the primary energy consumption of Afghanistan (140,966 TJ) during the year 2012-13. 


I. INTRODUCTION
Biomass is a major source of energy in Afghanistan.It contributes about 57.5% in the total primary energy consumption.Around 90% of households in the country use biomass as fuel, 65% of the used biomass is fuelwood [1].Approximately 5% of the country's land was covered by evergreen forests in the middle of 20th century.The eastern part of the country that was rich in oak, pine, cedar, almonds, pistachios and junipers forests have mostly degraded due to drought and excessive illegal logging.A study revealed that these forests degraded at a rate of 2.92% per year during the 2000 to 2005 [2].About 85% of the population directly or indirectly depends on agriculture as income source.However, from the 12% to 15% of the total cultivatable land in the country only 6% is currently productive.In addition to that, Livestock also plays an important role in the agricultural sector.About 79% of the rural households and 94% of the nomad (Kochyan) population possess some kind of animals [3].The animal manure is generally used as fuel for cooking and fertilizer [2].However, over the past 30 years the livestock population has decreased [4].
This study assesses the energy potential of the following biomass resources of Afghanistan for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14: (1) Forest fuelwood and charcoal, (2) crop residues and (3) cattle manure.The study has been conducted based on data collected from various sources and field survey.

II. TERMINOLOGY
ABPmanure Amount of biogas from recoverable manure (Nm 3 y -1 ) ACP Annual charcoal production (t y -1 ) AFP Annual fuelwood production (t y -1 ) AH Annual harvesting of the crop (t y -1 ) ARG Annual residue generation (t y -1 ) CTF Charcoal transformation Factor DM Amount of dry mater (kg head -1 day -1 ) DMR Amount of dry mater recoverable from the cattle manure (kg y -1 ) EPfuelwood Energy potential of fuelwood (TJ y -1 ) EPcharcoal Energy potential of charcoal (TJ y -1 ) EPmanur Energy potential of cattle manure (TJ y -1 ) EPresidue Energy potential of crop residue (TJ y -1 ) EUF Energy use factor FR Fraction of cattle manure recoverable GHG Greenhouse gas LHVbiogas Lower heating value of biogas (MJ m -3 ) LHVfuelwood Lower heating value of fuelwood (MJ kg -1 ) LHVcharcoal Lower heating value of charcoal (MJ kg -1 ) LHVresidue Lower heating value of residue (MJ kg -1 ) NA Number of animals (Head) RPR Residue to product ratio SAF Surplus availability factor VS Fraction of volatile solids in dry mater (kg VS kg -1 DM) Ybiogas Biogas yield (Nm 3 kg -1 VS) III.METHODOLOGY

A. Forest fuelwood and charcoal
The energy potential of forest fuelwood and charcoal (EP) can be estimated based on the annual forest fuelwood production (AFP) and annual charcoal production (ACP), fuelwood energy use factor (EUF) and charcoal transformation factor (CTF) and related lower heating values (LHVs) of fuelwood and charcoal [5].

Assessment of Selected Biomass Energy Potential in Afghanistan
Abdul Ghani Noori, P. Abdul Salam, and Agha Mohammad Fazli

B. Crop residues
The energy potential of crop residues (EPresidue) is estimated based on the annual harvesting (AH), residue to product ratio (RPR), annual residue generation (ARG), surplus availability factor (SAF), its energy use factor (EUF) and lower heating value (LHVresidue) [6].

C. Cattle manure
The energy potential of cattle manure (EPmanure) through biogas production can be estimated based on the number of animal (NA), dry matter recoverable (DMR), its fraction of volatile solids (VS), yield of biogas (Ybiogs), annual biogas potential of the manure (ABPmanure) and lower heating value of biogas (LHVbiogas) [6]. Where,

IV. BIOMASS ENERGY POTENTIAL
This section presents the availability, usage pattern and energy potential of selected biomass, and characterization of the selected crop residues in Afghanistan.

A. Forest fuelwood and charcoal energy potential
The total forest fuelwood production was 1,693,939 m 3 in 2012-13 and 1,725,812 m 3 in 2013-14 [7].Further the volume of fuel wood produced can be divided to that of coniferous and non-coniferous types.About 508,207 m 3 and 517,770 m 3 of coniferous fuelwood was produced in the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively, and about 1,185,732 m3 and 1,208,042 m 3 of non-coniferous fuelwood was produced in the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively.This indicates that non-coniferous fuelwood production was about 2.3 times higher than that of coniferous fuelwood production.From these figures it can be observed that fuelwood production has increased from the year 2012-13 to 2013-14, which leads to further forest degradation.To assess the energy potential, the produced forest fuelwood was converted from a volume to weight basis.The densities of coniferous and non-coniferous fuelwood used are 484 and 748 kg m -3 , respectively, with about 12% moister content [8].Using an energy use factor (EUF) for forest fuelwood of 0.58 and its charcoal transformation factor (CTF) of 0.42 in Afghanistan [9], the amount of coniferous fuelwood production (energy use potential) amounted to 142,664 tons (t) in 2012-13 and 145,348 t in 2013-14 and for nonconiferous fuelwood production (energy use potential) amounted to 514,418 t and 524,097 t in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively.Further to fuelwood production, charcoal production potential amounted to 118,969 t in 2012-13 and 122,388 t in 2013-14 [7].The characteristics of forest fuelwood and that of charcoal are summarized in Table I  The estimation of energy potential is based on the forest fuelwood and charcoal production and their relevant LHVs.The LHVs of coniferous and non-coniferous fuelwood have been considered as 19.53 MJ kg -1 and 18.59 MJ kg -1 , respectively [10] and for charcoal as 28 MJ kg -1 [8].The total estimated energy potential of produced forest fuelwood and charcoal was 15,680 TJ for the year 2012-13 and 16,008 TJ for the year 2013-14 (presented in Table II).From the estimated values the energy potential of forest fuelwood was 12,349 TJ for the year 2012-13 and 12,582 TJ for the year 2013-14, representing around 79% of the energy share in the total energy potential of forest fuelwood.The shares of coniferous and non-coniferous forest fuelwood energy potential were 22.6% and 77.4% in the total forest fuelwood energy potential.The energy potential of charcoal amounted to 3,331 TJ and 3,427 TJ for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively; representing around 21.4 % of the energy share in the total energy potential of forest fuelwood.The energy potentials of coniferous and non-coniferous forest fuelwood and charcoal increased by 1.88%, 1.88% and 2.87%, respectively from the year 2012-13 to 2013-14, even with forests degradation taking place since the middle of 20th century [2].B. Crop residues energy potential Residues from the following crops such as, wheat, rice, barley and maize were selected for assessment.In order to assess the energy potential from the crop residues, the following properties such as RPR, LHV, EUF and SAF are used.They are presented in Table III.In Table IV and V, the characteristics of the biomass crop residues are also presented.

1) Wheat straw energy potential
Wheat is considered a staple food in Afghanistan accounting for 80% of the total cereal cultivated land in 2013-14 and 79% of the total cereal consumption in the country compared to rice, barley and maize.Wheat is cultivated in both irrigated and rain fed lands.Irrigated lands yield almost three times higher than the rain fed lands.Wheat is planted twice a year; with the first season ranging from September to December, also called winter crop, and the second season ranging from March to July, also known as spring crop.The most productive zones for wheat production are the north and north-east part of the country.About 2,512,000 ha of lands were cultivated for wheat in 2012-13, with a yield of 2.01 t ha -1 , producing a total of 5,050,000 t of wheat.In 2013-14 the wheat cultivated lands increased to 2,552,922 ha with yield improvement (2.025 t ha -1 ) and final production amount of 5,169,235 t of wheat; an increase by 2.36% compared to the previous annual cycle.Table VI shows the harvested area and production in each zone for different crops in Afghanistan.In Afghanistan wheat has only field based residue in the form of stalks and husk and are called wheat straw.It is left in the field after wheat threshing.Based on the RPR value of 1.8 shown in Table III, about 9,090,000 t of wheat straw was generated in 2012-13 and increased by 2.4% to 9,304,623 t in 2013-14 (presented in Table VII).In Afghanistan, wheat straw is used mainly for animal feeding, plastering the roofs and walls of mud built households.Some of the residue is mixed with soil and other impurities in the field for the purpose of turning into fuel for cooking in houses.About 11% of wheat straw is used for energy purpose and 2% is surplus [7].
The energy potential of wheat straw is estimated based on the annual wheat straw generation, LHV of wheat straw, its EUF and SAF.The estimated energy potential of wheat straw represented about 57.8% of the total estimated energy potential of crop residues in 2013-14.The north and northeast zones have the highest wheat straw energy potential.The energy potential of wheat straw was about 38,768 TJ in 2012-13 and increased by 2.4% to 39,683 TJ in 2013-14, shown in Table VII.

2) Rice straw and husk energy potential
Rice is the second most used cereal after wheat in Afghanistan.Rice cultivation requires adequate quantity of water for irrigation but as Afghanistan has a dry climate with less precipitation during the year, rice production is low.Only 6% of the total cereal cultivated land grew rice and its production was 8% of the total cereal production in 2013-14.Only the north-east part of the country, with more available water, produces more rice compared to rest of Afghanistan.Paddy is cultivated from April to May and harvested from October to November.About 205,000 ha of land was cultivated for rice production in 2012-13.With a yield of 2.44 t ha -1 , about 500,000 t of rice was produced.The cultivated land for rice was the same in 2013-14 as in 2012-13, but with a better yield of 2.5 t ha -1 .In 2013-14, its production increased to 512,094 t.The cultivated land area and production of rice is shown in Table VI.
Rice has two kinds of residue, field based residue (rice straw) and process based residue (rice husk).The most productive zone of rice residue in Afghanistan is the northeast zone.The RPR considered for this study is 1.5 for rice straw and 0.2 for rice husk [11].Based on these values, about 749,994 t of rice straw and 99,999 t of rice husk was available in 2012-13, and increased to 768,141 t for rice straw and 102,419 t for rice husk in 2013-14 (an increase by 2.4%), also summarized in Table VII.
The energy potential of rice straw and husk was estimated based on their annual generation, LHV, EUF and SAF.The total energy potential of rice straw and rice husk was 9,271 TJ and 1,633 TJ, respectively in 2012-13 and the energy potential increased to 9,495.5 TJ and 1,672.5 TJ, respectively in 2013-14, shown in Table VII.Estimations show that the energy potential from rice straw and rice husk represented about 16.2% of the total energy potential from agricultural waste.About 84.5% of this potential was found in the north-east part of the country.

3) Barley straw energy potential
Barley and its residue are considered staple food for feeding animals in Afghanistan.From the total cereal cultivated land, about 9% was grown for barley production and it represented about 8% of the total cereal production in 2013-14.Barley is cultivated in both irrigated and rain fed lands.It has two seasons for cultivation, one being the winter season and the other the spring season.In the winter season, from September to December barley is planted and from April to August it is harvested.In the spring season, from March to July it is planted and harvested during the period August to December.The most productive zones of barley are north, north-east and south-west.About 280,000 ha of land was cultivated for barley in 2012-13; with a yield of 1.8 t ha -1 the amount of barley produced was 504,000 t.Its cultivated land reduced to 278,000 ha in 2013-14, but the crop yield during that period was high (1.85 t ha -1 ) compared to the previous years; producing about 514,000 t of barely, as shown in Table VI.The cumulative production increased by 1.98% from 2012-13 to 2013-14.
When barley is harvested, it is threshed with a thresher machine.The highest amount of barley straw is generated in the northern part of the country, followed by the south-west and the north east.The RPR value considered for this study for barley straw is 1.3 [11].Based on this, about 655,200 t of barley straw was generated in 2012-13.The residue generation increased to 668,200 t in 2013-14, as shown in Table VII.From 2012-13 to 2013-14, the cumulative barley straw generation increased by 1.98%.Table III shows the properties of the barley straw and Table IV and V show the characteristics.
The energy potential of barley straw was estimated based on the annual barley straw generation in 2012-13 and 2013-14, its LHV, EUF and SAF.The share of straw energy potential was about 12.4% of the total energy potential of crop residue in 2012-13 and 2013-14.The north zone of Afghanistan had the highest energy potential of barley straw, followed by south-west and north-east.Its estimated energy potential was 8,332 TJ in 2012-13.In 2013-14, it increased to 8,497 TJ, which shows an increase of 1.98 % from 2012-13 to 2013-14.Table VII shows the energy potential of barley straw in each zone.

4) Maize stalks and cobs energy potential
Maize is used for feeding animals in Afghanistan.About 4% of the total cultivated lands used for cereal production was used for growing maize, representing about 5% of the total cereal production in 2013-14.Maize is planted in the end of spring and the beginning of summer (May -Jun) and harvested in the end of summer and the beginning of autumn (September -October).The most productive zones for maize are the south and south-west, while in the north and north-east, farmers prefer to cultivate rice because the south and south-east do not have adequate water for irrigation compared to the north and north-east.About 141,000 ha of land were used to grow maize; with a yield of 2.2 t ha -1 in 2012-13 about 310,000 t of maize was produced.In 2013-14, cultivated land increased to 142,000 ha with no yield improvement and about 312,000 t of Maize was produced, as shown in Table VI.
Maize has field based residue in the form of maize stalks and process based residue in the form of maize cobs.When maize is collected, the stalk remains in the field and the maize cobs are sent to the market with the maize.It is hard to collect these cobs for the purpose of energy generation if they are not processed in a factory.However, in this study, both are accounted for energy estimation.Maize residue is generated mostly in the south and south-west of Afghanistan.The RPR considered for maize stalk and maize cob are 2 and 0.3, respectively [11].Based on this, 620,400 t of maize stalk and 93,060 t of maize cob were generated in 2012-13 and in 2013-14, the maize stalk and maize cob generation increased to 624,000 t and 93,600 t, respectively; as shown in Table VII.The cumulative maize residue generation increased by 0.57% from 2012-13 to 2013-14.
The energy potential of maize residue was estimated based on the annual maize residue generation and its LHV, EUF and SAF.The shares of maize stalks and maize cobs energy potentials were 11.5% and 2.1%, respectively in the total energy potential of the crop residue in 2012-13 and 2013-14.The south and the south-west have the highest maize residue energy potential followed by the east and the central.The energy potentials of maize stalks and maize cobs were 7,874 TJ and 1,410 TJ, respectively in 2012-13.Their energy potentials increased to 7,919 TJ and 1,418 TJ, respectively in 2013-14.Table VII shows their energy potential in each zone.The energy potential of maize stalks and maize cobs were increased by 0.57% from 2012-13 to 2013-14.

C. Cattle manure energy potential
Afghan farmers own some kind of livestock in their farms and it has always remained as an important feature in the agriculture, more importantly for the rural households.The following animals are usually kept by the rural farmers: cattle, sheep, goat, chicken, horse, assess, mule and camel.Animals provide family subsistence in the form of meat, dairy product and eggs, with larger animals additionally used for the purpose of cultivation and transport.In this study, only cattle has been considered for the estimation of the potential of biogas and energy as, animals such as donkeys and horses are used for transportation where the manure cannot be collected.In the case of other animals, the population in a farm is not large enough to support the production of biogas.In Afghanistan, groups of cattle are kept in a dairy farm as well as in the household, so it is easy to collect the daily produced manure of cattle.The total population of cattle was 5,244,000 head in 2012-13, although it reduced to 5,235,000 head in 2013-14, as shown in Table VIII [15].The north-east zone of the country has the highest population of cattle.About 24 % of the total cattle are concentrated in this zone, followed by 18% in the east, 15% in the south-west, 13% in the central, 11% in the south, 8^% in the north, 8% in the west and the remaining 3% in the west-central.a [16], b [15] Values such as the generation of fresh manure per head per day, recoverable fraction and percentage of dry matter in the fresh manure, percentage of volatile solids, biogas yield and LHV of biogas were used to estimate the biogas potential from cattle manure and energy potential of the generated biogas.Except for biogas yield and the LHV, other parameters were determined from field survey and tests conducted in Afghanistan and presented in Table VIII.The field measurements showed that the average fresh cattle manure production was 19 kg head-1 day-1, and its recoverable fraction was 0.8.The recoverable fraction was high compared to the literature for other countries, such as 0.6 for China and India [17], [18], 0.8 for Thailand [19] and 0.5 for the Philippines [20].The higher value is because Afghanistan does not have grazing areas for cow feeding, so they are always farmed in selected small areas, making it easier to collect the manure also for the purpose of using it in the form of fertilizer.The proportion of dry matter resulted from the field test was 23.7%.The fraction of volatile solids was 0.52, determined from the proximate analysis and resulted a biogas yield of 0.2 Nm 3 per kg of volatile solids, and with a calorific value is 20 MJ per Nm 3 of biogas [21].
The biogas potential of cattle manure was estimated based on the cattle population and its manure parameters.In Afghanistan, the most productive zones of biogas are northeast 24%, east 18% and south-west 15%.Other zones (central, south, north, west and west-central) have about 13% 11%, 8%, 8% and 3% shares, respectively in the total biogas potential.The total biogas potential in Afghanistan was 717,101,813 m 3 in 2012-13.Because of reduction in the cattle population, it reduced to 715,871,089 m 3 in 2013-14.
In Afghanistan, the average family size is about 7.4 persons [3].Considering that a double burner biogas stove consumes about 0.44 m 3 of biogas per hour and a biogas lamp consumes 0.14 m 3 of biogas per hour [22], a family size of 8 people would require about 4.44 m 3 of biogas per day (considering burning 4 lamps for 4 hours per day and a double gas burner for 5 hours per day).Based on the estimated biogas potential of 2013-14, about 441,732 family size biogas plants of each 12 m 3 in size can be constructed in Afghanistan.The usage of biogas can help in the reduction of CO2 emission, and the import of LPG for the purpose of cooking.
The annual biogas energy potential estimated based on its corresponding LHV was about 14,342 TJ and 14,317 TJ in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively also showing a 0.17% decrease in potential from 2012-13 to 2013-14.In Afghanistan, north-east is the most populated zone of cattle.About 3,488 TJ, and 3,482 TJ, biogas energy could be generated in this zone in 2012-13, and 2013-14, respectively, which makes a 24% share in the total biogas energy potential in Afghanistan.Its share was 18% in the east, 15% in the south-west, 13% in the central, 11% in the south, 8% in the north, 8% in the west and 3% in the westcentral zone of the country.The share of biogas energy potential for different zones in Afghanistan is presented in Table IX.

V. BIOMASS ENERGY POTENTIAL AND USAGE
The total estimated energy potential of the selected biomass (forest fuelwood, charcoal from forest fuelwood, selected crop residues and biogas from cattle manure) was 97,310 TJ for the year 2012-13 and 99,012 TJ for the year 2013-14 (an increase of 1.7% compared to the previous year).For the estimated energy potential of 2013-14, crop residues had the highest share (69.4%), followed by forest fuelwood (used for energy) and charcoal (16.2%) and biogas (14.5%).Adequate data was not able to estimate the energy potential from forest fuelwood and charcoal at a zonal level in the same manner it has been estimated for crop residues and biogas.Figure 1 shows the energy potential for different biomass energy resources for each zone in Afghanistan (the figure does not include the energy potential from fuelwood and charcoal).
From the estimated total biomass energy potential, about 52% of selected biomass energy was used for the purpose of cooking and space heating in the households; which indicates a surplus potential of 48% during the year 2012-13 and 2013-14.About 46,575 TJ and 47,255 TJ energy equivalent selected biomass was surplus in 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively and about 50,734 TJ energy was used in 2012-13 and 51,757 TJ in 2013-14.Additionally, it is observed that for the estimated bioenergy potential made during the year 2012-13, about 69% of the primary energy consumption of the country (140,966 TJ) could be supplied by bioenergy.Figure 2 shows the selected biomass energy potential in comparison to the contribution of the total primary energy consumption in Afghanistan.Afghanistan possesses a high potential of biomass energy as estimated for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14.The surplus biomass energy can reduce the dependency on imported oils.Additionally, it has other social and environmental benefits such as the usage of cleaner fuel, reduction of GHG emission, improvement of health, etc.
In this study, forest fuelwood, charcoal produced from forest fuelwood, crop residues and cattle manure were considered for the assessment of energy potential.The total assessed energy potential for the selected biomass in Afghanistan was 97,310 TJ in 2012-13 and 99,012 TJ in 2013-14, showing an increase of 1.7% from the earlier year.The share of crop residues energy potential was highest (69.4%) compared to the forest fuelwood and charcoal energy potential (16.2%) and biogas energy potential generated from the cattle manure (14.5%) for 2013-14.The energy potential of forest fuelwood and charcoal was 15,680 TJ in 2012-13 and 16,008 TJ in 2013-14.The total estimated crop residue energy potential was about 67,287 TJ and 68,686 TJ in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively.The biogas energy potential was 14,342 TJ in 2012-13 and 14,317 TJ in 2013-14.The efficient usage of these resources can help in the reduction of GHG emission and import of LPG.
Nearly 52% of the total selected biomass energy was used and 48% of it was surplus in both 2012-13 and 2013-14.The total estimated energy potential of the selected biomass could contribute about 69% in the total primary energy consumption of Afghanistan (140,699 in 2012-13.Mr. Fazli is member in the discipline and academic promotions committees of Kandahar University.In addition to that, he also has membership in the Afghanistan Renewable Energy Union (AREU).During his academic life, several prizes has been awarded to him for being as an active head of department and best teacher from Kandahar University.
Author's formal photo

Associate
Professor Dr. Salam held different positions in his academic life.His last three positions are: Assistant Professor in AIT, 2014, Thematic leader for Low Carbon, and Sustainable Production and Consumption Technologies and Management in 2016 and Associate Professor in AIT till now.He has been awarded several prizes such as: AIT Distinguished Researcher Award for 2018, AIT Distinguished Researcher Award for 2017, Thailand Frontier Researcher Award for Engineering in 2016, Scholarship award from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Bonn, for Master's degree study at AIT, Thailand during 1993 -1994 and Scholarship award from Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Jeddah, for Bachelor degree study at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.1985-1990.Agha Mohammad Fazli a citizen of Kandahar, Afghanistan was born on 11-June-1978 in Kandahar.He obtained his bachelor of engineering degree in civil engineering from Kabul University, Afghanistan in 2006 and his master of engineering degree in energy technology from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand in 2012.He started his job as a faculty in the Energy Engineering Department of Engineering Faculty, Kandahar University in 2009.He teaches variety of courses such as, solar photovoltaic, hydropower, biomass energy and combustion technologies & material.Besides teaching, Mr. Fazli is an active researcher in his field of specialization and conducted several research projects funded by Higher Education Development Program (HEDP) in recent years.
. Table I also contains factors that show how much of the fuelwood is transformed into charcoal.

TABLE VI .
CULTIVATED LAND AREA AND CROP PRODUCTION IN THE EIGHT ZONES OF AFGHANISTAN

TABLE VII .
CROP RESIDUE GENERATION AND ENERGY POTENTIAL IN THE EIGHT ZONES OF AFGHANISTAN

TABLE IX .
BIOGAS AND ITS ENERGY POTENTIAL IN THE EIGHT ZONES OF AFGHANISTAN Share of selected biomass energy in the total primary energy consumption of 2012-13.Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand in 2005 He teaches many courses such as: Biomass Conversion, Sustainable & Renewable Energy, Climate Change Mitigation, Clean Coal Technologies, and Waste to Energy.In addition to his role as a lecturer and head of department, Dr. Salam also supervise master and doctoral student's theses each year.He has a number of research papers and has been co-authored several books and book chapters.
Dr. P. Abdul Salam is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand.He obtained his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 1991, his master of engineering degree in energy technology from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand in 1994 and his doctor of engineering degree in