A review of alternative energy approaches will show the significant advantages of biomass, and a key characteristic is that combustion does not add to carbon cycle in the unsustainable way that fossil fuels do. As the levels of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, continue to rise, the need to address the sources is urgent the world is to avoid irreversible climate change.
Derived from a wide range of organic sources, biomass is a renewable energy source and can be used to generate power from among others, tree roots, branches, wood shavings and chips as well as from agricultural waste such as livestock crop residues, manure and silage. Specially grown grasses and woods such as miscanthus, switch grass, hemp or poplar and willow trees, or wood pellet by products, can be used to fuel a biomass reactor.
Clearly one of the significant advantages of biomass is the capacity significantly to reduce the burning of fossil fuels to generate heat, steam and electricity in residential, industrial and farming settings. There is also the fact that biomass is highly available relative to other fuels. As it is possible to continuously replant biomass sources, this fuel is reasonably described as renewable, because carbon released during the burning process is sequestered when plants grow, and so this source is also properly described as carbon neutral.
When biomass is taken from agricultural wastes such as straw and husks it is effectively a by-product and so it increases the value of the original agricultural crop. The subsequent replanting acts as a carbon sink for the carbon dioxide released during combustion, while at the same time releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
With the ever present pressure on landfill sites to take municipal waste streams, the idea of getting biomass from these sites will ultimately see a cut in waste volumes accumulating in these locations, which are the cause of significant releases of methane, a greenhouse gas with over twenty times the potency of carbon dioxide.
Another of the advantages of biomass is the use of these organic materials in such a way that they have less adverse environmental impact than when these sources are used in combustion. Effectively through a process of anaerobic digestion, waste is turned into gases which can then be used to drive turbines, instead of process where biomass is burnt and then sufficient trees need to be planted as a carbon sink to recover the carbon dioxide released.
Increased combustion efficiency can be achieved in transport vehicles by employing ethanol derived from biomass in a variety of new biofuel mixes, with the added benefit of being cleaner burning than the traditional longer chain carbon fossil fuels. Evidently biomass fuels have uses in producing heat and electricity as well as an alternative transport fuel to petroleum derivatives.
It seems governments across the world see the growth of new renewable energy plants as one way to address the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. A key consideration, however, is the need for a sufficient and steady level of baseload supply, as it is not enough to just provide extra capacity to meet peak demands. Sometimes the wind doesn't blow and the sun does not always shine, and the tides have to turn, all are periods when no electricity can be produced, while the advantages of biomass sources is that they do not have this constraint. - 29939
Derived from a wide range of organic sources, biomass is a renewable energy source and can be used to generate power from among others, tree roots, branches, wood shavings and chips as well as from agricultural waste such as livestock crop residues, manure and silage. Specially grown grasses and woods such as miscanthus, switch grass, hemp or poplar and willow trees, or wood pellet by products, can be used to fuel a biomass reactor.
Clearly one of the significant advantages of biomass is the capacity significantly to reduce the burning of fossil fuels to generate heat, steam and electricity in residential, industrial and farming settings. There is also the fact that biomass is highly available relative to other fuels. As it is possible to continuously replant biomass sources, this fuel is reasonably described as renewable, because carbon released during the burning process is sequestered when plants grow, and so this source is also properly described as carbon neutral.
When biomass is taken from agricultural wastes such as straw and husks it is effectively a by-product and so it increases the value of the original agricultural crop. The subsequent replanting acts as a carbon sink for the carbon dioxide released during combustion, while at the same time releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
With the ever present pressure on landfill sites to take municipal waste streams, the idea of getting biomass from these sites will ultimately see a cut in waste volumes accumulating in these locations, which are the cause of significant releases of methane, a greenhouse gas with over twenty times the potency of carbon dioxide.
Another of the advantages of biomass is the use of these organic materials in such a way that they have less adverse environmental impact than when these sources are used in combustion. Effectively through a process of anaerobic digestion, waste is turned into gases which can then be used to drive turbines, instead of process where biomass is burnt and then sufficient trees need to be planted as a carbon sink to recover the carbon dioxide released.
Increased combustion efficiency can be achieved in transport vehicles by employing ethanol derived from biomass in a variety of new biofuel mixes, with the added benefit of being cleaner burning than the traditional longer chain carbon fossil fuels. Evidently biomass fuels have uses in producing heat and electricity as well as an alternative transport fuel to petroleum derivatives.
It seems governments across the world see the growth of new renewable energy plants as one way to address the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. A key consideration, however, is the need for a sufficient and steady level of baseload supply, as it is not enough to just provide extra capacity to meet peak demands. Sometimes the wind doesn't blow and the sun does not always shine, and the tides have to turn, all are periods when no electricity can be produced, while the advantages of biomass sources is that they do not have this constraint. - 29939
About the Author:
The author, David Phillips, lives on the sunny island of Anglesey off North Wales, UK and owns an informative website focusing on local news and information. When considering the exciting growth potential of biomass Anglesey has a very interesting story to tell.
