Renewable Energy

How it is Used Biomass fuel refers to anything that can either burn or decompose. Bioenergy technologies use renewable organic resources to produce many energy related products including electricity, liquid, solid and gaseous fuels, heat, chemicals and other materials. Different types of biomass are burned to create energy. These include:  Wood  Dung and methane  Ethanol and methanol that are produced from plant material

Conversion Operation Conversion technologies may release the energy directly, in the form of heat or electricity, or may convert it to another form, such as liquid biofuel or combustible biogas  Thermal Conversion- heat is used as the dominant method to convert biomass into another form.  Chemical Conversion- A range of chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into other forms that can be more conveniently used, transported, or stored.  Biochemical Conversion- makes use of enzymes, bacteria, and other micro-organisms to break down biomass.

Advantages Reduces pollution Helps offset carbon emissions because the plants take in carbon from the atmosphere as they grow. Helps to support the American farmer Biomass is very abundant and can come from a number of sources It is easy to convert to a high energy portable fuel such as alcohol or gas Low in sulfur, so reduces acid rain It is cheap in contrast to the other energy sources

Disadvantages Releases methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere Takes more energy to plant and cultivate crops than the net energy produced Biomass collection is difficult and requires a lot of transportation Biomass crops not available year-round Converting corn to ethanol can be expensive

Future of biomass as a fuel source There has been discussion about the burning of municipal garbage for fuel, but people are concerned about the risks of air pollution Another proposed sources of biomass would be to mine peat bogs for the purpose of energy crops, such as cattails “Advanced biomass-based systems have the potential to contribute significantly to the energy supply in the future. The central goal for development is to create an economically and environmentally sustainable system, based on a fuel-supply infrastructure that will enable investment in modern high- efficiency power-production cycles.”