Introduction

    "" refers to organic matter which can be converted to energy. Some of the most common biomass fuels are wood, agricultural residues, and crops grown specifically for energy. In addition, it is possible to convert municipal waste, manure or agricultural products into valuable fuels for transportation, industry, and even residential use. It is energy and fuel that is produced by combusting or extracting biomass through bioenergy technology.
 
 

Biomass Burning

    Direct combustion is the simplest biomass technology and may be very economical if the biomass source is nearby.  Biomass burning is the combustion of organic (living and/or dead) vegetation such as wood chips, rice straws, trees, plants, switchgrass, alfalfa, soy husks, coconut shells, etc., waste materials and animal waste, and burning caused from lightening. Over 90 percent of biomass burning is due to human activities.
 

Major Areas of Combustion
 
 
 

    The burning of the Savanna Grasslands is estimated to release nearly three times as much carbon to the atmosphere as does the burning of Tropical Forests.  According to the World Bank, 50 to 60 percent of the energy in the developing countries of Asia, and 70 to 90 percent of the energy in the developing countries of Africa comes from wood or biomass, and half the world cooks with wood.

Biomass Energy

    In the past, combustion was the dominant form of Bioenergy used.  Presently, fossil fuels, wood, and other combustible materials are used throughout the world, while other forms of bioenergy are being researched for future use.  Methods of obtaining useful energy and fuel can be accomplished by:
 
 

Direct Combustion is the burning of material by direct heat. Biomass such as wood, garbage, manure, straw, and biogas can be burned without processing to produce hot gases for heat or steam. This process ranges from burning wood in fireplaces to burning garbage in a fluidized bed boiler to produce heat or steam to generate electric power. Direct combustion is the simplest biomass technology and may be very economical if the biomass source is nearby.
 

Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of biomass by heat in the absence of oxygen. Biomass feedstocks, such as wood or garbage, are heated to a temperature between 800 and 1400 deg.F, but no oxygen is introduced to support combustion.
 

Anaerobic Digestion converts organic matter to a mixture of CH₄ and CO₂. Biomass such as wastewater, manure, or food processing wastes, is mixed with water and fed into a digester tank without air.
 

Gasification is a process that utilizes biomass to produce methane through heating or anaerobic digestion.

Alcohol Fermentation is a process that produces fuel alcohol by converting starch to sugar, fermenting the sugar to alcohol, then separating the alcohol water mixture by distillation. Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, is the alcohol product of fermentation usable for industrial purposes including alternative fuel for internal combustion engines.
 

Landfill Gas is generated by the decay (anaerobic digestion) of buried trash and garbage in landfills.

Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of more than one form of energy using a single fuel and facility. Furnaces, boilers, or engines fueled with biogas can cogenerate electricity for on-site use or sale. Biomass cogeneration has more potential growth than biomass generation alone because cogeneration produces both heat and electricity. Cogeneration results in net fuel use efficiencies of over 60 percent compared to about 37 percent for simple combustion. Electric power generators can become cogenerators by using residual heat from electric generation for process heat, however, waste heat recovery alone is not cogeneration.
 

Products generated through these refining methods are:

                                                                             Anaerobic Digestion

                                                                              Pyrolysis

                                                                             Alcohol Fermentation

                                                                             Cogeneration

Statistics

    Biomass currently provides about 4% of the energy produced in the U.S., and it could easily supply 20%.  In other words, biomass could, sustainably, replace all of the power nuclear plants generate.
 

    Currently, more than 66,000 jobs are being supported by biomass energy.  By the year 2010, the economic benefits are expected to triple as advanced biomass power technologies and energy crops are commercialized.
 

     Rural economies will grow because of the development of a local industry to convert biomass to either electricity or transportation fuel.  Because biomass feedstocks are bulky and costly to transport, conversion facilities will be located where the crop is grown.  That means jobs -- for example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that 17,000 jobs are created for every billion gallons of ethanol produced.

    With sustainable agricultural practices, biomass fuels could replace half or more of the Nation's entire current level of gasoline consumption.  That would keep upwards of $25 billion a year working at home that we now send abroad for imported oil.

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Conclusion

    Research and development is needed to make biomass power economical when compared to fossil electricity sources.  Biomass can play a prominent role in a restructured marketplace and its power has the potential to become a major contributor to the world. Also, an increased use of biomass for energy would lead to: reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on foreign oil, an improved U.S. balance of trade, an improved rural economy, and a major new American industry.  It is capable of simultaneously addressing the nation's energy, environmental, and economic needs.

References

                                            1.   http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug99/1999L-08-12-07.html
                                            2.   http://www.eren.doe.gov/biopower/main.html
                                            3.   http://www.bgtechnologies.net/eng/index.htm
                                            4.   http://www.ubeca.org/pubs/EP99.html
                                            5.   http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/biomass_burn/globe_impact.html
                                            6.   http://www.green-energy.org/biomass.html
                                            7.   http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalFire/
                                            8.   http://weather.engin.umich.edu/geia/emits/blcarbon2.html
                                            9.   http://www.nrel.gov/research/industrial_tech/biomass.html
                                            10. http://www.penweb.org/issues/energy/green4.html
                                            11. http://www.biomass.org/