Discover the Advantages of Biomass, A Green Energy Future
As an alternative form of energy, the advantages of biomass are several and not least for the reason that combustion does not add to the carbon cycle ...
As an alternative form of energy, the advantages of biomass are several and not least for the reason that combustion does not add to the carbon cycle in the way that happens when unsustainable fossil fuels are burned. The world is under huge pressure to abate the rising levels of the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, given the contribution of this and other gases to potentially 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.
One of the obvious advantages of biomass is reducing the need to burn fossil fuels to produce heat, steam and electricity in industrial, residential and farming settings. Biomass is also useful in that it has a relatively high availability with the option for continuous replanting and so by definition is renewable, when the carbon released by burning is drawn back during plant photosynthesis, hence the carbon neutrality of this energy source.
Using wastes from crops such as straw and husks as a by-product to produce biomass fuel actually increases the value of the original source crops. When carbon dioxide is released during the combustion process, a carbon sink to sequester this greenhouse gas will start with replanting and oxygen will also be released into the atmosphere as photosynthesis proceeds.
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.
Among the advantages of biomass is the ability to use it in a way that has less intense environmental impact than when there is combustion. This means that instead of burning the biomass, a process which then has to be balanced by sufficient planting of trees to act as a carbon dioxide sink, the process of anaerobic digestion is used to convert the waste into gases which can be used to drive turbines.
Ethanol sourced from biomass can be used in a range of new biofuel blends, with the extra benefit of being cleaner burning than the mainstream fossil fuels, as well as the improved efficiency of combustion efficiency in road vehicles. It’s clear that biomass derived fuels can be employed to generate heat and electricity as well as an alternative fuel to petroleum distillates.
Clearly, governments at all levels need to tackle both climate change and energy security concerns when they permit new renewable energy plants. They also need to take into account the need to ensure a sufficient level of steady baseload supply and not merely extra sources which meet peak demands. The sun doesn’t always shine, sometimes there is no wind and tides have slack water, periods when no power is generated, whereas the advantages of biomass sources is the absence of this disadvantage.
The author, David Phillips, lives on the beautiful island of off North Wales, UK and owns an informative website covering local news and information. When looking at the exciting future potential of has a very interesting story to tell.
categories: biomass,renewables,electricity,energy,business
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