Advantages of Biomass Energy

Advantages of Biomass Energy

The last five years has seen a revolution in how governments, people and industry view energy. The advantages of biomass energy have come to the forefront in this discussion.
Advantages of Biomass Energy
The most common practical expression of biomass energy is in the form of biofuels. Biodiesal and bioethanol are already being used to supplement gasoline products in an effort to cut emissions and wean America off oil products.

Biofuels are essentially nontoxic and biodegrade readily. Every gallon of biofuels used reduces the hazard of toxic petroleum product spills from oil tankers and pipeline leaks (average of 12 million gallons per year, more than what spilled from the Exxon Valdez, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation). In addition, using biofuels reduces the risk of groundwater contamination from underground gasoline storage tanks (more than 46 million gallons per year from 16,000 small oil spills, according to the General Accounting Office), and runoff of vehicle engine oil and fuel.
The U.S. transportation sector is responsible for one-third of our country's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the principal greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Combustion of biofuels also releases CO2, but because biofuels are made from plants that just recently captured that CO2 from the atmosphere-rather than billions of years ago-that release is largely balanced by CO2 uptake for the plants' growth. The CO2 released when biomass is converted into biofuels and burned in truck or automobile engines is recaptured when new biomass is grown to produce more biofuels. Depending upon how much fossil energy is used to grow and process the biomass feedstock, this results in substantially reduced net greenhouse gas emissions. Modern, high-yield corn production is relatively energy intense, but the net greenhouse gas emission reduction from making ethanol from corn grain is still about 20%. Making biodiesel from soybeans reduces net emissions nearly 80%. Producing ethanol from cellulosic material also involves generating electricity by combusting the non-fermentable lignin. The combination of reducing both gasoline use and fossil electrical production can mean a greater than 100% net greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Biomass generated electricity is another active area of research and production. Biomass electricity is typically generated through boiler/steam turbine plants, but with three key differences: the fuel is renewable, there is less than 0.1% sulfur (an acid rain ingredient) in biomass fuels, and less air pollutants are produced. More specific environmental benefits for biomass power are:


• Reduced Sulfur Dioxide Emissions - Most forms of biomass contain very small amounts of sulfur, therefore a biomass power plant emits very little sulfur dioxide (SO2), an acid rain precursor. Coal, however, usually contains up to 5% sulfur. Biomass mixed with coal can significantly reduce the power plant's SO2 emissions compared to a coal-only operation.
• Reduced Nitrogen Oxide Emissions - Recent biomass tests at several coal-fired power plants in the U.S. have demonstrated that NOx emissions can be reduced relative to coal-only operations. By carefully adjusting the combustion process, NOx reductions at twice the rate of biomass heat input have been documented.
• Reduced Carbon Emissions - Plants absorb CO2 during their growth cycle when managed in a sustainable cycle, like raising energy crops or replanting harvested areas. Biomass Power generation can be viewed as a way to recycle carbon. Thus, Biomass Power generation can be considered a carbon-neutral power generation option.
• Reducing Other Emissions - Landfills produce methane (CH4) from decomposing biomass materials. Decomposing animal manure, whether it is land-applied or left uncovered in a lagoon also generates methane. Methane, which is the main component of natural gas, is normally discharged directly into the air, but it can be captured and used as a fuel to generate electricity and heat.
• Reduced Odors - Using animal manure and landfill gas for energy production can reduce odors associated with conventional disposal or land applications.
Biomass energy is not the perfect solution to our current energy and environmental concerns. The advantages of biomass energy, however, far outweigh those of fossil fuels.

Biomass

Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production. In this context, biomass refers to plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce for example trash such as dead trees and branches, yard clippings and wood chips biofuel, and it also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum.

Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane[1], and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing.

Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.

Plastics from biomass, like some recently developed to dissolve in seawater, are made the same way as petroleum-based plastics, are actually cheaper to manufacture and meet or exceed most performance standards. But they lack the same water resistance or longevity as conventional plastics.

Environmental impact

Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon from the atmosphere is converted into biological matter by photosynthesis. On death or combustion the carbon goes back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). This happens over a relatively short timescale and plant matter used as a fuel can be constantly replaced by planting for new growth. Therefore a reasonably stable level of atmospheric carbon results from its use as a fuel. It is accepted that the amount of carbon stored in dry wood is approximately 50% by weight.

Though biomass is a renewable fuel, its use can still contribute to global warming. This happens when the natural carbon equilibrium is disturbed; for example by deforestation or urbanization of green sites. When biomass is used as a fuel, as a replacement for fossil fuels, it still puts the same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. However, when biomass is used for energy production it is widely considered carbon neutral, or a net reducer of greenhouse gases because of the offset of methane that would have otherwise entered the atmosphere. The carbon in biomass material, which makes up approximately fifty percent of its dry-matter content, is already part of the atmospheric carbon cycle. Biomass absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere during its growing lifetime, after which its carbon reverts to the atmosphere as a mixture of CO2 and methane (CH4), depending on the ultimate fate of the biomass material. CH4 converts to CO2 in the atmosphere, completing the cycle.

Energy produced from feces residues displaces the production of an equivalent amount of energy from fossil fuels, leaving the fossil carbon in storage. It also shifts the composition of the recycled carbon emissions associated with the disposal of the biomass residues from a mixture of CO2 and CH4, to almost exclusively CO2. In the absence of energy production applications, biomass residue carbon would be recycled to the atmosphere through some combination of rotting (biodegradation) and open burning. Rotting produces a mixture of up to fifty percent CH4, while open burning produces five to ten percent CH4. Controlled combustion in a power plant converts virtually all of the carbon in the biomass to CO2. Because CH4 is a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO2, shifting CH4 emissions to CO2 by converting biomass residues to energy significantly reduces the greenhouse warming potential of the recycled carbon associated with other fates or disposal of the biomass residues.

The existing commercial biomass power generating industry in the United States, which consists of approximately 1,700 MW (megawatts) of operating capacity actively supplying power to the grid, produces about 0.5 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. This level of biomass power generation avoids approximately 11 million tons per year of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. It also avoids approximately two million tons per year of CH4 emissions from the biomass residues that, in the absence of energy production, would otherwise be disposed of by burial (in landfills, in disposal piles, or by the plowing under of agricultural residues), by spreading, and by open burning. The avoided CH4 emissions associated with biomass energy production have a greenhouse warming potential that is more than 20 times greater than that of the avoided fossil-fuel CO2 emissions. Biomass power production is at least five times more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than any other greenhouse-gas-neutral power-production technology, such as other renewable and nuclear.

Currently, the New Hope Power Partnership is the largest biomass power plant in North America. The 140 MWH facility uses sugar cane fiber (bagasse) and recycled urban wood as fuel to generate enough power for its large milling and refining operations as well as to supply renewable electricity for nearly 60,000 homes. The facility reduces dependence on oil by more than one million barrels per year, and by recycling sugar cane and wood waste, preserves landfill space in urban communities in Florida.

The amount of biomass available is usually not as great as stated in the example above. Many times, especially in Europe where large agricultural developments are not usual, the cost for transporting the biomass overcomes its actual value and therefore the gathering ground has to be limited to a certain small area. This fact leads to only small possible power outputs around 1 MWel. To make an economic operation possible those power plants have to be equipped with the ORC technology, a cycle similar to the water steam power process just with an organic working medium. Such small power plants can be found in Europe.

Despite harvesting, biomass crops may sequester (trap) carbon. So for example soil organic carbon has been observed to be greater in switchgrass stands than in cultivated cropland soil, especially at depths below 12 inches. The grass sequesters the carbon in its increased root biomass. But the perennial grass may need to be allowed to grow for several years before increases are measurable.

Using biomass as a fuel produces the same air-pollution challenges as other fuels. In 2009 a Swedish study of the giant brown haze that periodically covers large areas in South Asia determined that it had been principally produced by biomass burning, and to a lesser extent by fossil-fuel burning. Researchers measured a significant concentration of 14C, which is associated with recent plant life rather than with fossil fuels.