Biomass is natural organic matter that can be used as fuel. It has been used for centuries to provide heat, light, and power. Biomass is composed of four main categories: wood, crops, wastes (including sewage), and other biomass sources like manure, animal bones, or carcasses. Biomass is an extremely important part of the energy mix in the United States with biomass providing about 40% of our renewable electricity generation capacity; it also provides significant amounts of heating and cooling in buildings across the country.
Biomass energy is a clean form of renewable energy that can be used to power homes, cook food, and produce heat. Biomass is a plant-based material that can be grown in intense situations without taking away from the farmland or food production.
Introduction – Biomass Uses Essay
In today’s scenario, there are several issues in front of the world’s society that are very crucial. Availability of sources of energy is one of the important issues. The world is facing a strong threat related to the production of energy and sources of energy. As technology is progressing rapidly, the need for energy is increasing is also at a fast pace. But the source of energy is very limited.
The conventional sources of energy, for example, coal, petroleum, firewood, and many more. But the main disadvantage related to these types of sources is that the conventional sources of energy are limited and non-renewable. Because of this reason, the excessive usage of these sources presents a major threat of scarcity of energy in the future perspective.
This threat related to energy sources calls for serious attention from scientists and researchers. About this, scientists and researchers are trying to search for new, innovative, and non-conventional sources of energy. There are several non-conventional sources of energy which is generally used in today’s scenario.
These non-conventional sources are including solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, bio-energy, etc. There are several different advantages and disadvantages related to the usage of these sources. As these sources are new for international society, several different issues are also engaged with these types of sources of energy.
These sources are renewable and reusable. Furthermore, in the list of non-conventional sources of energy, bio-energy is one of the most prominent types of energy which is generated by biomass. The usage of biomass as the source of energy has emerged as an important topic for debate in front of scholars and researchers across the globe.
There are several important issues related to the topic. There are various strengths of this source of energy because of which the source is recommended and preferred to conventional sources of energy by researchers and scientists. Vis-a-Vis, there is also some weakness of this source of energy which is making use of this source of energy more complex and difficult (Biomass, 2010).
The paper is aimed to present an analysis of the bio-mass as the source of energy. For this purpose, various strengths and weaknesses of bio-fuel are detailed in the paperwork. The paperwork is also trying to make it clear that whether the usage of bio-mass will be beneficial for international society or it is just a wastage of time and money, which is spending heavily in the research and development of biomass as a source of energy.
Further, the strengths and weaknesses of the bio-mass are detailed in the context of the conventional sources of energy, so that a clear comparison between the conventional sources of energy and the bio-mass energy can be carried out, clearly.
The paper is also aimed to detail some of the important issues related to the usage of bio-mass as non-conventional sources of energy. The paperwork is providing some important insight information related to bio-mass and concerned issues so that the reader can get comprehensive knowledge about the topic.
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Conventional sources of energy are the sources of energy, which are used by human society traditionally. These are the sources that are provided by nature and are limited in quantity. These are the non-reusable sources of energy which implies that once these sources get over, there is no possibility of regaining these sources. These conventional sources of energy include coal, lignite, peat, petroleum, and natural gas. These sources have been primarily used for obtaining energy to provide heat, light, and power for many years.
On the other hand, Bio-mass is an inevitable form of non-conventional source of energy. This is a renewable source of energy. Basically, through this type of source, biological energy is primarily used for the production of heat or the generation of electricity.
For this purpose, different biological matter from living and recently dead biological organisms are extracted in various forms such as wood, alcoholic fuel, biological wastage, hydrogen gas, etc.
Fundamentally, the Bio-mass is recognized as various matters extracted from the living plant. These plant-driven materials which are then used as the source of energy are mainly the product of the photosynthetic reaction. Besides it, woody plants, remainders of farming, residues of forestry such as dead trees, dry leaves, dry branches of the tree, etc.
which can be used for burning as fuel, various organic compounds from the living organism, and industrial wastes. Earlier, biomass was used in the form of firewood but in today’s scenario, the other forms of biomass such as wood, dugs, forestry, and agricultural wastage are also used widely as an important source of energy.
Biomass is actually the form of all the organisms on the earth. Biomass is also included as the wastage of living plant and animal organisms. Biomass converts solar energy into chemical energy. The biomass collects and stores the energy from the sun i.e.
solar energy. When the Biomass is used, this solar energy is subjected to conversion in the form of chemical or thermal energy. In the case when the biomass is subjected to burn, eat and digest, the energy of the biomass is subjected to release.
The energy which is released from the biomass is known as bio-energy. This form of energy can be used in various general and specific usage such as heating, cooking, generation of electricity, lightning. But now in today’s scenario, the span of Biomass energy is subjected to increase.
Earlier, Biomass energy was used primarily in rural areas. Because of several advantages of biomass energy, the usage of biomass energy is significant, increasing in urban areas, small and medium scale industries (Biomass, 2010).
Types of Biomass energy
As it is mentioned earlier, the span of Biomass energy has become much broader and the number of different forms of Biomass energy is also available. Biomass energy primarily can be divided into five different and important classes which are detailed below:
Virgin Wood – Basically, Virgin wood is known as the woods and other woody matters of plants such as branches, barks and trunks, wood chips, and sawdust. In this type of wood, there is no kind of chemical treatments exposed to finishing. This type of wood contains only natural substances. Various physical and chemical characteristics of this type of wood vary according to their source plant.
Physically, virgin wood is natural, untreated, and clean. Because of the harvesting and growing process, various physical inclusions such as mud, stones, etc are also included with these types of woody materials. Further, in the absence of any external treatment, there are various internal chemical kinds of stuff from the soil, water, air, and various pesticides in the form of heavy metals, halogens, and minerals that are also found in this type of wood. But the level of these types of chemical agents in the wood is very low.
Energy crops – Energy crops are the crops that are cultivated to obtain biological fuel in the form of biological petrol. Several different crops are farmed because of their fuel value. These energy crops are also including various food crops such as sugarcane, corn, and many other non-food crops, for example, various popular woody trees and switch grasses such as Miscanthus and Pennisetum purpureum (elephant grass). The farming of various energy crops requires low investments and maintenance. These energy crops contain a higher amount of carbohydrate content. Because of these reasons, various energy crops including maize, Sudan grass are used for the production of Biogas.
Agricultural residues – In this category, various remainders, from agriculture are included. There are two different types of residues of Agriculture namely dry residues and wet residues. In the dry residues category, various substances that have a minimum content of water such as straws, dry crops, where the wet residues consist of substances that are having water contents such as animal slurry.
Food waste – These are the wastes of food that take place in hotels, restaurants, and individual houses. Again, this type of biomass can be differentiated into two different categories namely dry and wet wastage. These wastages have a higher degree of carbohydrate contents. For this reason, this can be used primarily for the production of biogas.
Industrial waste and co-products – There are various woody and non-woody materials that are produced as the byproducts of various industrial processes and manufacturing operations. These co-products are the industrial wastages that can be used as biomass fuel (What is BIOMASS? 2008).
Strengths of biomass fuel
The usage of biomass as a prominent source of energy is increasing rapidly day by day. There are several prominent strengths of biomass fuel because this biomass is preferred over conventional sources of energy. These strengths are detailed below:
Less Pollutive source of energy – the Increasing rate of pollution is the major reason for worry in front of world society. Because of the increasing pollution, several environmental problems such as the greenhouse effect, increasing temperature of the earth, and climate change. The usage of fossil fuel or petroleum products is the main reason for air pollution. When fossil fuel is used, it leaves a higher amount of carbon footprint in the air.
The usage of biomass sources of energy leads to fewer carbon prints in the environments as compared to conventional sources of energy. Further, the biomass sources of energy emit less harmful gases in the environment. Especially less emission of sulfur, which is very harmful to human society from the health perspective, in the environment, takes place in the case of biomass energy. For this prominent reason, biomass energy is used widely.
Cost efficiency – The biomass sources of energy are comparatively more cost-efficient than conventional sources of energy. A less expensive setup is required for the production of energy from biomass sources. Furthermore, when biomass is oxidized for the production of energy, it produces less ash in comparison to coal. Less production of ash leads to less disposal cost. It also helps the industries to cut down their requirements of land where this ash can be dumped.
Due to this reason for industrial purposes, bio-mass is now preferred and recommended in place of coal. Further, the ash produced because of the combustion of biomass is not as harmful as ash from coal combustion. Moreover, biomass ash is also having various recycled benefits, because of which the ash is used for the amendment of soil in farmland.
Effective and efficient use of wastes – Various biological wastes are the prominent source of biomass energy. This implies that for the production of biomass energy there is no need for specific raw material. Various biological products which are generally considered as garbage and wastes can be used for the production of energy. In today’s environment, million-ton garbage is produced from livestock, agriculture, industrial or manufacturing processes, and households. Dumping this waste or garbage is a complex problem. This garbage is used for the production of biomass energy. There is plenty of availability of this type of biological wastes, thus the production of biomass has become easier in comparison to various conventional sources of energy such as fossil fuel, natural gas, etc. which are available in a limited amount.
Support of government – Biomass energy contains several different advantages. These are also providing several different benefits to the government and society. For this purpose, this type of energy source is promoted by the government. The government is making a lot of efforts for making biomass energy popular. For encouraging the cultivation of energy crops, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is running a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Through this program, the government is also trying to control soil erosion and chemical runoff.
The government has marked the land under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which is specially reserved for the energy crops on which the crop other than energy crop will not be permitted. Because of the strong support of the government, biomass energy sources have plenty of opportunities for the future perspective. In conditions where the world is facing severe threats related to the scarcity of conventional sources of energy such as petroleum products, the sources of biomass energy can be proved as the important and most economic sources of energy for the government.
Social and political supports – Various sources of biomass energy are also backed by the social and political environment of the country. As climate change has emerged as a serious issue in front of international society, there is a kind of political pressure on every country for decreasing the level of pollutions. In this scenario, the countries are supporting the means of non-conventional energy such as biomass.
From the social perspective also, the usage of biomass energy sources contains greater strengths. Biomass energy sources are more popular in rural areas than conventional sources of energy. These sources are supported by socialists also because these sources create and retain more jobs in the rural economy. It also encourages agricultural practices which lead to providing full-time employment to people of rural areas.
Furthermore, the agriculture of the energy crops provides a sort of diversity to the farmer, because of which the dependency of a farmer over a particular type of crop decreases. The agriculture of these types of crops is relatively cheaper. These types of crops also have high resistance against diseases. All these reasons impose farmers to farm these types of energy crops (Environmental and Social Benefits/Costs of Biomass Plantations, n.d.). In this way, these all presented strengths of biomass over conventional sources of energy provide a broad scope of non-conventional sources of energy.
Weakness of biomass
In the above section of the paper, several different strengths of biomass are described. But as every coin has two different parts, biomass energy is also having certain disadvantages which become the prominent weakness of this type of non-conventional source of energy. Because of these disadvantages, despite having several different advantages over conventional sources of energy, the biomass sources of energy are not as much as popular as other sources of energy. Some of the prominent weaknesses of biomass energy and its sources are listed below:
Availability of biomass crops – The biggest and utmost weakness of biomass is that various energy crops which are the major sources of biomass energy can not be available for the whole year. As with the other crops, a particular energy crop can only be grown in a particular season of the year. Further, various woody trees are very slow growing by nature. Because of these reasons, availability has become one of the most prominent weaknesses of biomass energy sources. Whereas the conventional sources of energy such as petrol, natural gas, and coal are not seasonable and can be retrieved at any season of the year however the quantity of these types of sources is limited.
Collection of biomass – as is mentioned earlier that animal and industrial waste and garbage can be used for the production of biomass energy, it is necessary to collect this waste and garbage. But the collection of this type of waste is not an easy task. It demands a lot of effort from the government and people. For the collection of the waste, the administration of cities must employ pre-specified drainage and sewerage system, which leads to extra expenses of government.
The requirement of agricultural land – For farming of the energy crops there is a requirement of the land. In today’s scenario where it becomes difficult to provide adequate living space due to the increasing population, it is very hard to provide adequate space for farming such types of crops. For replacing fossil fuel with biofuel there is a need for vast agricultural land. This agricultural land can also be used for feeding a large population of the world.
The extra cost for processing the waste – Not only a collection of wastes and garbage is a critical task, but the further process and recycling of this waste is also a complex task. There is a need for installing various new technologies for compacting, splintering, and shredding biomass which is available in huge quantities. These new technologies are costly. Because of this reason, the establishment of the biomass energy project is not an easy task.
Unawareness about the source – In the present scenario, the level of awareness among common people about biomass energy sources is very is low. Although, the government is employing various projects for encouraging the usage of biomass energy still people prefer to use conventional sources of energy because these sources are easily available and ready for use.
Low energy density – various researchers and studies have shown the energy density which is provided by biofuel is less than the energy density which is provided by conventional sources of energy such as coal, petroleum products, and natural gas. This implies that a higher amount of biomass is needed for the production of energy.
Emission of greenhouse gases – Biomass is an organic matter which is used for the production of energy and when an organic compound burns, it emits the carbon-di-oxide. Which is a greenhouse gas? Because of this reason the biomass is also a source of air pollution. For avoiding this problem, there is a need for a special kind of technology which is known as Exhaust gas cleaning technology. But such type of technologies is not as much efficient and economically viable in the case of small energy plants.
Transportation – Furthermore, the transportation of biomass energy sources is not as much easy as conventional sources of energy such as coal (Biomass Energy Disadvantages, n.d.). These are some important weaknesses of biomass fuel which are the main cause of the less popularity of these types of energy sources In comparison to various conventional sources of energy.
Public issues related to the usage of biomass as a source of energy
There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages related to biomass energy sources. There are different public issues are also engaged with the use of biomass energy source which is needed to be considered by the government of the country. First of all, the issue related to the sustainability of these types of energy sources.
There is a need for a higher and well-diversified biological ecosystem and a high level of forestry and agricultural production so that adequate stock of organic matter can be available. For this reason, the deforestation and degradation of the forest are growing rapidly. This scenario raises an important issue related to the management and governance of forests, especially in developing countries.
The excessive usage of the land is also put an important issue in front of the international society. For increasing the usage of biomass sources of energy, there is a need for vast agricultural land. This requirement calls for the deforestation and use of agricultural land for the production of various types of energy crops in place of crops that are necessary for feeding a large population.
The excessive usage of the land for the production of energy crops also results in the decreased productivity of the land which is very harmful to the farmer. The government needs to take some steps for addressing this issue in the most efficient manner (Sustainability of Biomass: Report, 2010).
Furthermore, identifying the role of biomass sources in the country’s future energy projects is also an important point that needs a lot of considerations and effort from the government. How much investment will be adequate for biomass energy products, how much benefit, the country can have with help of these sources, which entity will be benefited the most by the employment of these projects, what will be the outcomes and problems related with projects how it can be overcome? These are some questions which are needed to be answered by the government of the country (Lynd, 2007).
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Biomass sources of energy are an important type of non-conventional source of energy. The paper has presented various aspects related to this type of source of energy. Based on the review of the paper, it can be concluded that biomass energy sources can be an important means for answering various environmental challenges which are presenting a major threat in front of the international society.
In the present situation, because of the increasing need for energy, the usage of conventional sources of energy is also subjected to increase rapidly. But these conventional sources such as petrol, natural gas, coal, and fossil fuel are found in limited quantity in nature. Because of this, there is a need for a more sustainable source of energy.
For accomplishing this need, biomass energy sources can be a prominent option. Biomass energy is produced with the help of various organic matter which is extracted from a living or dead organism. For this purpose, the waste and garbage of living animals and industries are also very important raw materials for the production of biomass energy. In the paper, there are several advantages and strengths of this type of source of energy also described. These strengths are the characteristics of the biomass sources of energy which make the sources more valuable and unique.
Further, there are certain shortcomings and weaknesses of this type of source of the energy such as availability, transportation, collection, and many more also detailed in the paper. For making the sources more viable and feasible, it is necessary to find a solution to these problems. There are several public-related issues also engaged with the usage of this type of source of energy. For the better and efficient usage of this type of energy, the government should address these issues in a well and efficient manner.
References
Biomass Energy Disadvantages. (n.d.). Retrieved, November 25, 2010, from http://www.alternative-energy-resources.net/biomass-energy-disadvantages.html
BIOMASS. (2010). Retrieved, November 25, 2010, from http://www.climate.org/topics/clean-energy/biomass.html
Environmental and Social Benefits/Costs of Biomass Plantations. (n.d.). Retrieved, November 25, 2010, from http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/reports/fuelwood/chap4.html
Lynd, L. (2007). Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Retrieved, November 25, 2010, from http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/biomass/LyndSenateAg07-3.pdf
Sustainability of Biomass: Report. (2010). Retrieved, November 25, 2010, from http://www.euissuetracker.com/en/focus/Pages/Sustainability-of-Biomass-Report.aspx
What is BIOMASS? (2008). Retrieved, November 25, 2010, from http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?pageid=75,17304&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
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