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Advantages of Biomass - Carbon Neutral Energy Generation

Novembre 21, 2009 | Biomass, Climate Change, Eco News, Green Energy

By David M Phillips

A review of alternative energy approaches will show the significant advantages of biomass, and a key characteristic is that combustion does not add to carbon cycle in the unsustainable way that fossil fuels do. As the levels of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, continue to rise, the need to address the sources is urgent the world is to avoid irreversible climate change.

As a material drawn from a broad range of organic sources, biomass fits the renewable energy category and can be deployed for generating power. Among the sources available are tree roots, branches, wood chips and shavings together with various agricultural wastes like crop residues, manure and silage. A biomass reactor can also be fuelled by specially grown grasses like miscanthus, switch grass and hemp or from trees like poplar and willow, or using wood pellet by-products.

Clearly one of the significant advantages of biomass is the capacity significantly to reduce the burning of fossil fuels to generate heat, steam and electricity in residential, industrial and farming settings. There is also the fact that biomass is highly available relative to other fuels. As it is possible to continuously replant biomass sources, this fuel is reasonably described as renewable, because carbon released during the burning process is sequestered when plants grow, and so this source is also properly described as carbon neutral.

Using wastes from crops such as straw and husks as a by-product to produce biomass fuel actually increases the value of the original source crops. When carbon dioxide is released during the combustion process, a carbon sink to sequester this greenhouse gas will start with replanting and oxygen will also be released into the atmosphere as photosynthesis proceeds.

With the ever present pressure on landfill sites to take municipal waste streams, the idea of getting biomass from these sites will ultimately see a cut in waste volumes accumulating in these locations, which are the cause of significant releases of methane, a greenhouse gas with over twenty times the potency of carbon dioxide.

An alternative to combustion of biomass is their use in a way that has a lesser impact on the environment. The process called anaerobic digestion, where municipal and animal wastes are converted into gases, is another way of driving turbines to generate electricity. This is an alternative to burning the biomass with the need to plant enough fast growing trees as a carbon sink to make the process carbon neutral.

Ethanol sourced from biomass can be used in a range of new biofuel blends, with the extra benefit of being cleaner burning than the mainstream fossil fuels, as well as the improved efficiency of combustion efficiency in road vehicles. It’s clear that biomass derived fuels can be employed to generate heat and electricity as well as an alternative fuel to petroleum distillates.

It seems governments across the world see the growth of new renewable energy plants as one way to address the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. A key consideration, however, is the need for a sufficient and steady level of baseload supply, as it is not enough to just provide extra capacity to meet peak demands. Sometimes the wind doesn’t blow and the sun does not always shine, and the tides have to turn, all are periods when no electricity can be produced, while the advantages of biomass sources is that they do not have this constraint.

Living on the beautiful island of Anglesey in Wales, UK, the author, David Phillips, owns an informative website covering local news and information. With more potential growth opportunities for biomass Anglesey is now a focus for investors looking to ride the alternative energy wave.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_M_Phillips
http://EzineArticles.com/?Advantages-of-Biomass—Carbon-Neutral-Energy-Generation&id=3295874

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