Josh Bunger
Natalie Kneip
Biomass Energy
A renewable source for the future

A. What is Biomass energy?

1. Non-fossil fuel organic material that is available for consumption on a renewable basis, which can be converted to energy as either electricity or liquid fuel.

2. Can be created by thermonuclear conversion or microbial conversion.

B. Types of energy production

1. Direct combustion: burning organic material to produce steam to turn a turbine and generate electricity; only certain types of less polluting biomass are used.

2. Co-firing: burning biomass material with coal to produce steam to turn a turbine and generate electricity; reduces coal usage and harmful pollutants.

3. Gasification: conversion of biomass into "biogas" by heating in an oxygen-starved environment; the "biogas" is used as fuel to turn turbines in generators.

4. Pyrolysis: converting biomass into liquid and gas by decomposition induced by high temperature and the absence of air; it is then burned like petroleum and natural gas.

5. Anaerobic digestion: biomass is decomposed by bacteria to produce methane and other products such as ethanol.

C. Types of biofuels

1. Alcohol: ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, etc. which are mainly products used for direct combustion as liquid fuel.

2. Herbaceous energy crops: perennials that can be harvested annually after a 2-3 year grace period for growth.

3. Woody energy crops: short-rotation fast growing hardwood trees with a 5-8 year grace period for growth.

4. Industrial crops: grown to produce specific industrial chemicals or materials; not energy oriented.

5. Agricultural crops: grown to produce specific products, usually sugars, oils, and extractatives; not energy oriented.

6. Agricultural crop residue: primarily stalks and leaves ("stover") that can be made available for energy consumption.

7. Aquatic crops: same as agricultural.

8. Forestry residue: biomass not harvested or removed from logging sites.

9. Municipal waste: waste paper, cardboard, wood waste, yard waste, kitchen waste.

10. Biomass processing residues: sawdust, bark, branches, leaves, needles, etc.

11. Animal wastes: can include human.

C. Biomass issues

1. Economic

a. Less reliance on depleting fossil fuel resources.

b. Energy self-sufficiency; no reliance on foreign fuel reserves and refineries for domestic power sources.

c. Increased biomass agriculture providing more jobs and a stronger domestic economy.

d. Conservation of land use for agriculture and forestry while providing human and wildlife habitats and environmental preservation.

e. Cost efficient in that transportation of fuel would be and has been the biggest expense.

2. Environmental

a. Improvement of air quality by decreasing the amount of pollutants produced by fossil fuels.

b. Global climate change will be decreased by decreasing emission of greenhouse gasses produced by the burning of fossil fuels.

c. Soil conservation issues include erosion control, nutrient retention and carbon depletion, but limit the results of mining and limit landfills and run-off.

d. Water conservation issues include groundwater quality, surface run-off, and irrigation for increased agricultural production.

e. Biodiversity and habitat may change due to altered land use in biomass fuel production.

3. Social and Market Issues

a. "Green power marketing" provides choices in restructured electricity markets, allowing customers to support renewable energy technologies and contributing to the growth of the biopower industry.

b. Combined heat and power (CHP) facilities achieve high efficiencies by using both the electricity and the heat generated from burning biomass.

c. Modular power systems can be used on farms and other remote locations to provide power on a local basis.

D. Why biomass energy?

1. "The renewable, above-ground biomass resource that could be used as energy is about 100 times the world's total annual energy consumption." (http://www.bera1.org)

2. "Biomass fuels produce virtually no sulfur emissions, helping to mitigate acid rain. While carbon dioxide is emitted during biomass combustion, an equal amount of carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere during the biomass growth phase; thus biomass fuels "recycle" atmospheric carbon minimizing global warming effects" (http://www.nrdc.org)

3. "the cost of biomass fuel from both mill wastes and urban wood wastes can range from $0 per million British thermal units to about $1.40/BTU, depending on the distance from the fuel source to the power plant" (http://westbioenergy.org)

4. "[For] 775 MW of new electric capacity to 500,000 homes and 100 million gallons/year of new ethanol production of gasohol to 45% of Wisconsin's automobiles "generated 3 times more jobs, earnings and sales than the same level of imported fossil fuel usage and investment, and was equivalent to 62, 234 more job-years of net employment, $1.2 billion in higher wages and $4.6 billion in additional output" [and] about $2 billion in avoided payments for imported fuels." (http://bera1.org)