...English 101 Linda Martin Research Paper Jordan Hartt November 29, 2010 Slash/Burn and Chips An argument for Biomass Co-Generation Biomass co-generation is the historically proved approach to energy production. For thousands of years, the Plains Indians (then early settlers) used buffalo chips to build fires to heat their tepees (and sod huts). This was probably the first use of biomass energy in America. Early settlers learned from the Indians to heat their sod huts. After the buffalo became extinct, cow chips were used. On the plains there weren’t many trees and coal had not been discovered there, so this was a matter of survival (Whyte n.d.). Once the chips were dried in the sun they were almost odorless, and placed outside the tepees and sod huts. Western pioneers would modify their stoves to burn cow chips as they were plentiful along the cattle drive trails where the cattle were brought to the railroad cars for sale, and transporting to other areas. They compacted hay and then twisted it into twig-like bundles called cats. When the settlers started farming on the plains, they used corn stalks, corn cobs, and sunflower stalks as a source of fuel. In the United States, the first facility identified as a biomass power plant went on line in 1982. Using corn residues, rice husks, soy beans and sorghum residues, willows, switch grass, and organic waste from land fills as fuel, we could provide enough energy for all the homes in New England (Whyte n.d.). I...
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...A RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD - FUELING THE FUTURE WITH BIOMASS Malathi.N I year MBA, School of Management Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore. ABSTRACT Concerns about the availability and long-term supply of petroleum-derived fuels have caused the search for alternative sources of energy. After a century of unprecedented growth in science, technology, and the economy, we now face tremendous challenges to our ability to fuel the future: a fluctuating oil price, a changing climate, and continued dependence on unreliable energy sources. These problems are increasingly personal, and the demand for solutions becomes increasingly urgent. The ultimate solutions will only come from fundamental innovations in science and technology. Liquid fuels will for some applications be necessary for an indefinite period of time. Therefore, defining relevant feedstocks, producing fuels from these feedstocks and the properties of these fuels are critical issues. The utilization of biomass resources assumes importance due to the soaring crude price and depleting reserves of fossil fuels coupled with the rising environmental concern. Ethanol derived from renewable ligno-cellulosic biomass of non-edible variety has been identified globally as the future solution for meeting the energy demand. Apart from fuel and energy, biomass can also be the source of large number of derivatives. Biomass can be used for fuels, power production, and products that would otherwise be made...
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...Biomass Biomass can be garbage, wood chips, sugar-cane remnants or grass. Almost all the renewable-energy power in Florida comes from biomass, including three plants in Miami-Dade and Broward. Biomass produces 1,100 megawatts of power for Florida, according to a recent study by Navigant Consultants. About half of that comes from 11 waste-to-energy plants that process local garbage and trash and the other half is the leftovers from timber and sugar cane industries. Miami Dade’s yard waste is used to produce 77megawatt biomass facility. The County’s Resources Recovery Facility is one of the most technologically advanced waste-to-energy facilities in the world, while featuring a state-of-art air quality control system. More than 1.2 million tons of waste is processed annually, with 270,000 tons of the material being processed into a biomass fuel for export out of Miami-Dade County. The RRF is supported by three County-owned and operated landfills and three solid waste transfer stations. While receiving waste from these facilities, they will separate all aluminum and ferrous metals, from the garbage, to be sold to recycling plants. The garbage is then shredded and used to generate electricity. Their process produces a biomass fuel which is used on site to supplement the refuse derived fuel. The remaining biomass fuel is sold to cogeneration facilities in Central Florida. The ash product resulting from the waste-to-energy process is 10% of the original waste material delivered to...
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...A REPORT ON INDIA’S BIOMASS POWER SECTOR SUBMITTED BY RAVI JAIN 1226109240 TO Prof. V.L.RAO IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT POLICY 17th December, 2009 GIIB, Visakhapatnam EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The total installed capacity in India is 1,50,000MW but we are facing a power deficit of around 10%. The per capita power consumption is 665 kWh and this figure is steadily increasing. To meet this increasing demand and reduce the current peak shortage, the Government has planned to double the existing capacity to 3,00,000MW over the next decade (2010-20). BIOMASS POWER SCENARIO India has a biomass availability of 150 million MT per annum which gives us a potential to install 16,000MW of biomass based power plants. But only 600MW is installed and another 600MW is under implementation. To realise this huge potential we need an investment of Rs.1,00,000 crore. Some reasons for lack of investments in Biomass sector are: It costs around Rs.6cr/MW for a Biomass plant whereas a thermal plant requires only about Rs.4.5cr/MW. Availability of Biomass fuel with high calorific value (> 4000kcal/kg) PROMOTIONAL INCENTIVES Accelerated Depreciation 80% in first year (Boiler and Turbine). Income Tax Holiday under Section 80 1A for 10 years. Concessional import duty; excise duty exemptions on equipments & components required for initial setting of the project. Sales tax exemption in some states. IREDA provides loans for biomass power projects. Preferential...
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...Biomass & Biofuel Biomass & Biofuel: The Future Umaer Ahmed SBI4U-03 Badgery, J. 01/02/13 Biomass & Biofuel: The Future Biofuels are a recent development that has stemmed a great deal of research into the issue of alternative energy. The energy that we get from biofuels originally came from the sun. This solar energy was captured through photosynthesis by the plants used as feedstock (raw materials) for biofuel production, and stored in the plants’ cells. This energy-containing biomass is converted into biofuel through biochemical, chemical, and thermo chemical conversion processes. For example, ethanol, today’s largest volume of biofuel, is produced through a biochemical process. In this process, yeasts ferment sugar from starch and sugar crops into ethanol. Most ethanol is produced from sugar canes and cornstarch. Biochemical conversion techniques allow us to make use of more abundant “cellulosic” biomass sources such as grass, trees, and agricultural residues. A simpler chemical process used to produce a biofuel is the production of biodiesel. Biodiesel facilities start with vegetable oils, seed oils, or animal fats and reacts them with methanol/ethanol in the presence of a catalyst. Algae and plants can serve as a natural source of oil which refineries can convert into jet fuel or diesel fuel. Once the biomass has been converted into biofuel, the biofuel is used...
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...Biomass Energy Biomass is a renewable energy and it is a natural material. A good example of biomass is wood, it gets burned and the energy can be used for cooking or heating. This essay will be covering aspects about biomass which include: What is biomass? How does biomass work? Different sources of biomass, advantages of biomass and disadvantages of biomass. What is biomass? Biomass is a renewable energy which is derived from living or recently living organisms that has been made into energy.Biomass energy has a life cycle and people are able to regrow theses plants. Biomass could be plants, animal waste, human waste or vegetables. The carbon used to make biomass grow is absorbed from the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (co2) using energy...
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...Biomass the Energy of Life What is Biomass? Biomass is one of five clean energies sources. Biomass refers to the use of organic material to produce energy. Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals, and it is a renewable source of energy. Biomass comes from a variety of sources which include food crops, grassy and woody plants, residues from agriculture or forestry, oil-rich algae, and the organic component of municipal and industrial wastes. Even the fumes from landfills can be used as a biomass energy source ("EIA Energy Kids - Biomass," n.d.). As well as many other forms of energy, the people need to know how biomass is used, the advantages, and disadvantages that it brings people. Biomass hold stored energy from...
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...Electricity Generation by Hybrid Biomass Power Plant From Waste For Bangladesh Md. Rakibul Islam Monshy Department of Electric Engineering & Computer Science North South University, Dhaka Abstract- Hybrid renewable Biomass Power is becoming popular for remote area power generation applications due to advances in renewable energy technologies and subsequent rise in prices of petroleum products. A hybrid energy system usually consists of two or more renewable energy sources used together to provide increased system efficiency as well as greater balance in energy supply. Hybrid renewable energy systems is one of the most promising applications of renewable energy technologies in remote areas, where the cost of grid extension is prohibitive and the price of fossil fuels increase drastically with the remoteness of the location. It has been demonstrated that hybrid energy systems can significantly reduce the total life-cycle cost of stand-alone power supplies in many situations, while at the same time providing a more reliable supply of electricity through the combination of energy sources. Applications of hybrid systems range from small power supplies for remote households providing electricity for lighting or water pumping and water supply to village electrification for remote communities. Mixed combinations of renewable energy systems are also possible, that is applications where different renewable energy technologies are applied in one location without the systems being...
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...Biomass is a term for all organic material that stems from plants (including algae, trees and crops). Biomass is produced by green plants converting carbon dioxide using light into plant material through photosynthesis and includes all land- and waterbased vegetation, as well as all organic wastes. The biomass resource can be considered as organic matter, in which the energy of sunlight is stored in chemical bonds. When the bonds between adjacent carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules are broken by digestion, combustion, or decomposition, these substances release their stored chemical energy (Mckendry, 2002). Biomass has always been a major source of energy for mankind and is presently estimated to contribute of the order 10– 14% of the world’s...
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...Bioenergy: Impediments and Plausible Solutions Introduction Biomass resources have been in use for a variety of purposes since ages. Their multitude of uses includes usage as a livestock or for meeting domestic and industrial thermal requirements or for the generation of power to fulfil any electrical or mechanical needs. These resources provide for a clean source of power generation since most of them are considered to be carbon neutral. Their omnipresence makes them a preferred choice for generation of energy, the world over. Considering the case of India alone, biomass has the potential to cater to nearly 15% of the existing 1,60,000 MW power capacity in the country. However, only about 2500 MW of this potential has been exploited so far. Numerous reasons could be sighted towards this ranging from high technological costs, availability of resources to an ever-troubling supply chain management. This article makes an attempt at collating some of the most prominent issues associated with such technologies and provides plausible solutions to most of them in order to seek further promotion of these technologies. Roadblocks The issues enumerated below, are not geography specific and are usually a matter of concern for most of the bioenergy related projects. 1. Large Project Costs: In India, a 1 MW gasification plant usually costs about USD 1-1.5 Million. A combustion based 1 MW plant would need a little more expenditure, to the tune of USD 1-2Million. An anaerobic digestion...
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...Biomass: Will It Be Too Late? Susan Bergeron NSCI 280 Nicole Finley Bryant & Stratton 11/24/2011 Biomass: Will It Be Too Late There are wide assessments of biomass energy’s role in expanding our national energy supplies. There are advantages and limitations in the U. S. ethanol industry which research is being done even more than ever because of such high petroleum prices. According to Choices magazine the main advantage of ethanol is cost reducing as a gasoline additive and as a gasoline replacement using E85, which are motor fuel blends of 85% ethanol and just 15% gasoline. The problem is there are not enough corn crops to supply the gasoline demands. Other technologies are needed if bio-energy is going to expand its role in the national energy scene. Biomass processing could become profitable in the future with improvement in technology. The most important benefit of renewable energy systems is the decrease of environmental pollution and using up our current resources. However the role of biomass-ethanol in natural energy supply depends upon the success of fuel processing technologies and the energy price increase. Is there enough public knowledge to help promote and fund the need of modern technology that is needed to supply us with ethanol and biodiesel? “Biomass is a generic term for all vegetable material. It is generally a term for material derived from growing plants or from animal manure. The term modern biomass is generally used to describe...
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...http://www.all-energy.co.uk/__novadocuments/54287?v=635376506404000000 Managing the Biomass Risk Darren Williams Commercial Director Eco2 Limited Background Swalec Joined generation business in 1993 Energy Power Resources 2006 Biomass and waste energy Ely Straw fired station project manager Largest biomass generator in UK Founding Director of Eco2 2002 Wind Dummuie, Betws, Hatton, Bogenlea Landfill Gas 4 projects with 10MW capacity Tidal Energy Limited Biomass Western BioEnergy, Sleaford, Brigg and a further 8 biomass plants throughout UK and Europe under development Is Biomass Riskier than Wind? Both offer construction and fuel risk Proven technologies available Long term contracts achievable A biomass plant has a team on site to make sure it runs 24 hours a day Lots of projects with good operating history; but DEBT FUNDERS ARE NOT SURE! Key Biomass Risks Three Key Risks: Fuel Fuel Fuel Other Risks Legislation Construction/Technology Risk Offtake provisions Operating Risks Fuel Key Risks Scale of the Plant - Is there enough? What will the price be in the long term? How do you get it to the plant at all times? Counter Party Risks? Is there enough? Brigg Sleaford Snetterton What will the price be in the long term? In depth knowledge of the market Needs third party confirmation Long term fuel contracts Ability to utilise back up fuels How do you get it to the plant? Need to...
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...prices. In order to decrease food versus fuel concerns and satisfy the increasing need of energy consumption, developing advanced biofuel (e.g., cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel) is pivotal. The current U.S. Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS2) set up the goal of using 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels as a transportation fuel by 2022. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed a regional strategy to meet the RFS2 mandate. In this report, Central-Eastern, one of the most potential regions, was expected to produce up to 9.1 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, which is near a half of the total mandate volume by 2022. Besides, it also suggests that the possible feedstock could be perennial grasses, biomass sorghum, crop residues, soybeans, and woody biomass. Therefore, the State of Illinois, in this area and known for its great agricultural productivity, should carefully consider which bioenergy cropping system is capable of meeting the mandate and more sustainable to the environment. According to statistics, in 2010, the land in farms in Illinois was around 27 million acres or 75% of total land area, including 12.4 million acres of corn and 9 million acres of soybean. Despite the fact that USDA claimed it will only require 4.5% cropland and cropland pasture to produce enough advanced biofuel2, the land resource will be limited because of the projected population...
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...Biofuels. Name: Institution: Course: Tutor: Date: A biofuel is made from a biological process known as carbon fixation. These biofuels are gotten from the conversion of biomass, solid biomass, liquid fuels as well as biogases. The biofuels are continued to be known because of the high prices of fossil fuels and also for the purposes of ensuring fuel security in various countries. (Caye, D. & Terry W.2008). The biofuels are produced from two distinct ways; that is through metabolic by-products or from living organisms. Examples of biofuels include; bioethanol which is an alcohol made from fermentation process. Another example of biofuels is biodiesel which is made from vegetable oils as well as animal fats. Biofuels have got several ways in which they are made. Therefore in this essay I am going to analyze few methods. Biofuels are made from materials known as feedstock. This comprises mostly of crops or products mainly waste vegetable oil. (Mitchell, D. 2010). These materials are converted to biofuels or bioenergy. These feedstocks have got merits and demerits depending on what percentage of biofuel can be gotten from them. Feedstocks can further be classified as first and second generation. The former refers to those which are widely grown by people and at the same time used for some other purposes. They are mostly used for food and feed production. (Lane, J. 2010). Hence, they serve the purpose of being used as food as well as to produce biofuels. The examples of first...
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...BIOMASS ENERGY POLICY The Policy Vision for Biomass is: To transform traditional biomass energy to modern energy in order to use the available biomass resources sustainably The policy goal for Biomass is: To increase the modern use of biomass energy from 10% to 86% of total energy consumption in Uganda by the year 2020 Table of Contents BIOMASS POLICY 4 1.0 Introduction 4 1.1 Biomass 5 1.1.1 Biomass energy flows 6 1.1.1.1 Forestry 6 1.1.1.2 Agriculture 7 1.1.1.2 Agricultural residues 7 1.1.1.4 Live stock 8 1.1.2 Biogas through anaerobic digestion 10 1.1.3 Biofuels for Transport by fermentation 11 1.1.4 Direct combustion for generation of electricity 12 1.1.5 Pyrolysis 12 1.1.6 Gasification 13 1.1.7 Transesterification 13 1.2 Benefits of using biomass 13 1.3 Barriers to efficient use of Biomass 14 1.4 Advantages of Biomass Energy 15 2.0 THE POLICY VISION, GOAL, PRINCIPLES, OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND TARGETS 17 2.1 The Policy Vision 17 2.2 The Policy Goal 17 2.3 The Key Policy Principles 17 2.4 The Policy Objectives 18 2.5 The Policy Strategies 19 2.5.1 Legal and Institutional Framework 19 2.5.2 Data Acquisition, Information Dissemination (Awareness) and Capacity Building, Monitoring and Evaluation 20 2.5.3 Financing and Fiscal Policy 20 2.5.4 Poverty Eradication, Equitable Distribution, Social Services and Gender 21 2.5.5 Research and Development...
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