Biomass

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An example of a simple use of biomass fuel (Combustion of wood for heat).

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2]

[edit] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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 MW_el. 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.^{[5] [6][7][8]}

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] Researchers measured a significant concentration of ¹⁴C, which is associated with recent plant life rather than with fossil fuels.^[12]

[edit] Biomass production for human use and consumption

This is a list of estimated biomass for human use and consumption. It does not include biomass which is not harvested or utilised. See Primary Productivity of the Biosphere for details ^[13].

[edit] See also

• Anaerobic digestion
• Biochar
• Bioenergy
• Bioenergy in China
• Biofuel
• Biomass briquettes
• Biomass (ecology)
• Biomass gasification
• Biomass heating systems
• Biomass in the United States
• Biomass Research and Development Board
• Biomass to liquid
• Bioplastic
• Biorefinery
• Corn kernels
• Corn stove
• Corn stover
• Decompiculture
• Energy crop
• Energy forestry
• Microgeneration
• Microgeneration Certification Scheme
• Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
• Standing crop
• Thermal mass
• Wood fuel (a traditional biomass fuel)
• World Council for Renewable Energy

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Sustainable development portal

Energy portal

[edit] General information

• Biomass as an Energy Source - Växjö University
• Everything Biomass
• What is Biomass? - Växjö University

[edit] Around the world

• European Biomass Conference & Exhibition.
• European Biomass Industry Association (EUBIA)
• Forest Bioenergy
• Renewable Products Development Laboratories (RPDL)
• RES LEGAL - database on the promotion and the access to the grid of electricity generated from renewable energy sources (including biomass) in Europe

[edit] In the United States

• Biomass Reports (Idaho National Laboratory).
• 2008 study; Emerging Biomass Industry: Impact on Woodfiber Markets
• BioMASS Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• California Biomass Energy Alliance
• Michigan Biomass Energy Program
• Texas State Cons. of Energy Office Biomass Article
• US Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• US Energy Information Administration

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