From Wood to Energy
Biomass is the biological and organic materials that are used to produce Biofuels for energy production. Biomass crops are produced in nature through a process called photosynthesis were the suns solar energy is used by the plants and other living organisms to produce carbohydrates and sugars. The energy created by the burning of biomass materials is often referred to as bioenergy. Biomass crops which are grown specifically for the primary purpose of being used as biofuels are called dedicated energy crops. The aim of these energy crops is to be as carbon neutral or even carbon negative as possible.
Typical solid biomass energy products include wood and wood wastes, domestic wastes, agricultural crops and wastes, animal wastes, peat, and aquatic plants with the three major forms of biomass energy being Solid Biomass (Wood, Incineration), Liquid Fuels (Ethanol, Biodiesel) and Gaseous Fuels (Landfills, Methane).
Almost any type of combustible organic matter can potentially be used as a renewable energy source. This has led to an increasing interest in alternative forms of bioenergy technology. Raw biomass materials can be chemically or biochemically treated to convert them into a energy-rich fuel such as biofuel, bioethanol, biodiesel and biogas to name a few.
Ever since the harnessing of fire many thousands of years ago, biomass has been used in the home for heating and cooking with the burning of biomass fuels to produce heat being called combustion. In fact coal is just a fossilised form of biomass that has been compacted over millions of years to produce a concentrated source of energy. Then all fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, are nothing more than ancient forms of biomass originating from dead plants and animal remains.
The potential for using biomass as a bioenergy resource is enormous. With advances in applications of the technology, it is now possible to convert raw organic biomass called feedstock, into various forms of energy, including electricity, heat, liquid or gaseous fuels, and processed solid fuels. To produce electrical energy, the heat from the thermal combustion process is used to create steam, which in turn drives turbines to produce electricity. Most electrical generation of biomass is done using direct combustion.
Today there is considerable interest in the combustion of solid biomass as part of a process called "cofiring". Cofiring is when the raw biomass feedstock in the form of wood chips or compacted pellets is mixed with traditional fossil fuels in power plants for electricity production. Pound-for-pound, biomass has a smaller energy content than fossil fuels so the cofiring process is usually done by mixing biomass with coal, but biomass can also be cofired with oil.
Get more information about biomass to energy, click here.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6939963
Typical solid biomass energy products include wood and wood wastes, domestic wastes, agricultural crops and wastes, animal wastes, peat, and aquatic plants with the three major forms of biomass energy being Solid Biomass (Wood, Incineration), Liquid Fuels (Ethanol, Biodiesel) and Gaseous Fuels (Landfills, Methane).
Almost any type of combustible organic matter can potentially be used as a renewable energy source. This has led to an increasing interest in alternative forms of bioenergy technology. Raw biomass materials can be chemically or biochemically treated to convert them into a energy-rich fuel such as biofuel, bioethanol, biodiesel and biogas to name a few.
Ever since the harnessing of fire many thousands of years ago, biomass has been used in the home for heating and cooking with the burning of biomass fuels to produce heat being called combustion. In fact coal is just a fossilised form of biomass that has been compacted over millions of years to produce a concentrated source of energy. Then all fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, are nothing more than ancient forms of biomass originating from dead plants and animal remains.
The potential for using biomass as a bioenergy resource is enormous. With advances in applications of the technology, it is now possible to convert raw organic biomass called feedstock, into various forms of energy, including electricity, heat, liquid or gaseous fuels, and processed solid fuels. To produce electrical energy, the heat from the thermal combustion process is used to create steam, which in turn drives turbines to produce electricity. Most electrical generation of biomass is done using direct combustion.
Today there is considerable interest in the combustion of solid biomass as part of a process called "cofiring". Cofiring is when the raw biomass feedstock in the form of wood chips or compacted pellets is mixed with traditional fossil fuels in power plants for electricity production. Pound-for-pound, biomass has a smaller energy content than fossil fuels so the cofiring process is usually done by mixing biomass with coal, but biomass can also be cofired with oil.
Get more information about biomass to energy, click here.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6939963
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