Uso de residuos agrícolas para la producción de biocombustibles en el departamento del Meta

A Colombian region called “departamento del Meta” has an outstanding agricultural tradition regarding products such as oil palm, rice, fruit, banana, and others. In the multiple production processes associated to agricultural activities, heterogeneous waste is generated. Biomass, in particular, represents a problem from an environmental point of view due to the lack of techniques for harvesting and reuse. These byproducts from agricultural and agro-industrial production can bring benefits for producers; they can be used in the production of compost and can be returned to the crop fields. Another possibility of reuse is the production of energy for various processes within a productive agriculture or the generation of power for agri-business, supplying energy generation from coal, diesel and gasoline among others.The aim of this paper is to describe, analyze and offer possibilities of converting this waste, or by-products, into a source of energy for the region, also for municipalities away from the national grid. Moreover, other possibilities to produce biofuels such as ethanol, biogas and biodiesel are proposed to meet energy demands, promoting energy security, rational and efficient use of resources and regional integration. A permanent idea in this article is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing the disposal of contaminants in soil, water and air so as to create a more a competitive globalized world that properly uses the biomass produced in different processes.