Energy scenarios due to southern pine beetle outbreak in Honduras

The purpose of this work is to determine the effects of the Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) outbreak in the Honduran energy sector, taking into consideration the amount of forest area cleared, the volume of wood affected, and the amount of energy generated by biomass. The pursued objectives within this work were: to analyze the biomass energy potential originated by the SPB outbreak, identify places affected by the SPB, identify power generation plants that are taking advantage of the biomass, and determine the advantages and disadvantages of biomass use due to SPB. The methodology implemented to develop the research began with expert interviews on the subject to obtain several viewpoints, the data was collected from statistical yearbooks of the National Institute for Forest Conservation and Development, Protected Areas and Wildlife (ICF, by its Spanish acronym), the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE, by its Spanish acronym), and research processed in the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning Software system (LEAP) to create energy scenarios. The analysis shows that SPB behaves cyclically. It was concluded that by 2021 the energy demand will not be able to be secured with the current biomass stock.