Khon Kaen Province represents one of Northeast Thailand’s most significant opportunities to simultaneously address PM2.5 air pollution, open-field agricultural burning, rural income instability, and industrial decarbonization through a scalable, cluster-based biomass energy and organic fertilizer platform.
Based on official data obtained from the Provincial Agricultural Office of Khon Kaen, the province generates approximately 1,454,672 tonnes per year of unused agricultural residues, primarily rice straw and sugarcane leaves, which are currently subject to seasonal open burning and inefficient disposal practices.
Our proposal transforms this biomass into productive economic assets through:
Biomass power plants (one per cluster)
Large-scale organic composting facilities (500,000 t/y per cluster)
Strategically located biomass warehouses to optimize logistics
The platform delivers measurable benefits across air quality improvement, greenhouse gas mitigation, rural income creation, and long-term energy security, aligned with ESG, SDGs, and climate-finance frameworks.
The province is structured into three integrated biomass clusters, each designed as a semi-autonomous circular economy node:
Cluster Biomass (t/y) Power Capacity Community Income
Western Cluster 428,855 26.80 MW THB 128.65 million/year
Eastern Cluster 412,958 25.80 MW THB 123.88 million/year
Southern Cluster 612,859 38.30 MW THB 183.85 million/year
Total Province 1,454,672 90.90 MW THB 436.38 million/year
Each cluster consists of:
1 biomass power plant
1 organic compost plant (500,000 t/y input capacity)
Biomass warehouses at 30–50 km radii where required
(Methodology aligned with IPCC, Thailand GHG T-VER baseline assumptions, and regional PM2.5 emission studies)
Key Technical Assumptions (Conservative):
Avoided open burning emissions: 1.6 tCO₂e per ton of biomass
PM2.5 avoided from open burning: 4.5 kg PM2.5 per ton of biomass
Biomass power displaces fossil grid electricity (Thailand grid factor ≈ 0.55 tCO₂e/MWh)
Biomass utilized: 428,855 t/year
Power generation: 26.80 MW
Environmental Impact:
GHG reduction:
≈ 686,168 tCO₂e per year
PM2.5 reduction:
≈ 1,930 tons per year
Socioeconomic Impact:
THB 128.65 million/year distributed to farmers, logistics providers, and community enterprises
Elimination of large-scale burning in mountainous and basin areas with high pollution sensitivity
Biomass utilized: 412,958 t/year
Power generation: 25.80 MW
Environmental Impact:
GHG reduction:
≈ 660,733 tCO₂e per year
PM2.5 reduction:
≈ 1,858 tons per year
Socioeconomic Impact:
THB 123.88 million/year in stable agricultural residue income
Strategic proximity to Khon Kaen city supports urban air-quality improvements
Biomass utilized: 612,859 t/year
Power generation: 38.30 MW
Environmental Impact:
GHG reduction:
≈ 980,574 tCO₂e per year
PM2.5 reduction:
≈ 2,758 tons per year
Socioeconomic Impact:
THB 183.85 million/year in community revenue
Largest contributor to provincial emission reduction due to high biomass density
Total GHG reduction:
≈ 2.33 million tCO₂e per year
Total PM2.5 avoided:
≈ 6,546 tonnes per year
This reduction is equivalent to:
Removing ~500,000 passenger vehicles from the road annually
Eliminating the majority of seasonal agricultural burning sources in the province
Each cluster includes a 500,000 t/y organic compost plant, converting lower-grade biomass, fines, and processing residues into:
Certified organic fertilizer
Soil carbon enhancement inputs
Long-term Scope 3 emission reduction tools for agribusiness and industrial off-takers
This enables:
Reduction of synthetic fertilizer dependency
Improved soil water retention and yields
Eligibility for soil carbon and agricultural carbon credits
To minimize transport emissions and farmer costs:
Warehouses are deployed only where required
Each warehouse serves a 30–50 km catchment radius
Acts as:
Seasonal buffer storage
Quality control node
Community-operated logistics hub
This approach ensures capital efficiency while maintaining supply security.
This Khon Kaen platform is designed for:
DFIs and climate funds seeking large-scale, measurable impact
Infrastructure investors targeting stable, long-term cash flows
Industrial off-takers requiring low-carbon electricity and Scope 3 mitigation
Public-sector partners addressing PM2.5 and rural inequality
The modular, cluster-based architecture allows:
Replication across other provinces
Phased capital deployment
Integration with digital MRV and carbon-credit monetization platforms
The Khon Kaen Biomass Platform is not a single power project—it is a provincial-scale climate and circular-economy infrastructure, converting agricultural waste into clean energy, cleaner air, stable farmer income, and investable ESG-aligned returns.
It demonstrates how PM2.5 mitigation, climate finance, rural development, and energy transition can be delivered through one integrated system.