Biomass can be classified as dry biomass (such as wood) or the wet biomass sources such as organic fraction of domestic waste, agro-industrial wastes, slurries and waste water. Thermal conversion or gasification of the dry biomass generates energy. Figure 3 summarizes an approximate worldwide energy consumption level. Nearly 2 kg billion biomass is burned everyday in developing countries. Especially in India, 90% of primary energy use is accounted for biomass in rural areas (wood-56%; crop residues-16%; dung-21%). Combustion of these sources leads to high concentrations of respirable particulates, gases including CO, SO2, nitrogen oxides and toxic compounds such as benzene and formaldehyde [23]. The wet biomass is less suitable for thermal conversion. Biotechnological processes are involved where the reactions are catalysed by microorganisms in an aqueous environment at low temperature and pressure. Aquatic biomass presents an easy adaptability to grow in different conditions and has enhanced CO2 fixation accompanied with a low nitrous oxide release.
Some microalgal biomass is considered as a better alternative renewable energy source, either terrestrial or aquatic (Botryococcus braunii) (Fig. 1m). In view of the oil content of many microalgae (Table 2) energy recovery from biomass can be implemented on a large scale readily. The photosynthetic efficiency of aquatic biomass is much higher (6-8%) than that of its terrestrial counterpart (1.8-2.2%) [13]. Further, aquatic biomass presents an easy adaptability to grow in different conditions either in fresh or marine water or in a wide range of pH. This makes the aquatic biomass more adaptive or an enhanced CO2 fixation to afford a high biomass production. The only practicable methods of large scale production of microalgae are tubular photobioreactors [19] and open raceway ponds [20]. Extensive studies have been carried out for the cultivation of different marine microalga using a variety of cultivation systems including open ponds and various types of closed photobioreactors [21, 22]. Since already several articles were dealt with large scale production, this paper did not concentrate on these issues.
Biomass for power generation has been recognized as an important component of the renewable energy programme in India and this is reflected in the priority attached to it by the MNES. There are niches with substantial potential for the use of biomass for power generation e.g. bagasse cogeneration in sugar mills, decentralized gasifier based diesel cogeneration systems in south India and biomass waste from agricultural operations or agro-industries in concentrated geographical pockets [23]. A biomass power / cogeneration capacity addition of 115 MW in six states was created in the country during the year reaching a cumulative power generation capacity of 727 MW.
Both biodiesel and ethanol are derivatives of biomass that have been processed to create a liquid biofuel. Both types of biofuels have been touted as secure and environmentally safe alternatives to fossil fuels, however the research verifying these claims is extensive but often contradicting. In the following paper, the efficiency and quality of the two types of biofuel will be discussed. The effects of variables such as source materials and production techniques on efficiency and quality will be considered. Due to the limited scope of this paper however, only generalized net analyses of ethanol and biodiesel production will be considered. The production of ethanol requires one of two source materials, cellulose or sucrose, both of which are complex sugars. Currently, corn and sugar cane are the primary source materials for ethanol; however it can be produced from any plant cellulose. Ethanol is created using chemical and non chemical processes. These processes include liquefication, saccharification, fermentation, and distillation (Malca and Freire, 2006).
A majority of the population probably uses diesel fuel in automobiles, and central heating systems to heat buildings and houses. However, diesel fuel is dangerous to the environment. There is another option that can be used in place of diesel oil to fuel cars and to heat buildings. “Biodiesel is a legally registered fuel, and fuel additive with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)”, and it is made from “vegetable oils, yellow grease, used cooking oils, and tallow” (“Biodiesel Production and Distribution”). Biodiesel fuel has many advantages over diesel fuel that allows it to be a better fuel than diesel fuel such as improving the environment, decrease the U.S. dependency on foreign petroleum, and reducing the amount of hurtful contaminants.
In 1960 Oswald and Golweke proposed the use of large‐scale ponds for cultivating algae on wastewater nutrients and anaerobically fermenting the biomass into methane fuel. Algae, like all bio fuels, harvests the energy from water and sunlight to produce oil which can be converted into biodiesel as well as the carbohydrate content to be fermented into ethanol (Benemann, Olst, et al. 1). The concept of using vegetal oil as an engine fuel likely dates back to when Rudolf Diesel (1858‐1913) developed the first engine to run on peanut oil, as he demonstrated at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 (Biodiesel 1). Using algae, however, is only a very recent concept as the first algae biodiesel plant only opened this year on April 1, 2008. The company, PetroSun, is expected to produce ≈4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million lbs of biomass per year in their 1,000 acres. Fuel will not be produced immediately, but they will be building or acquiring ethanol and biodiesel production plants in the near future (Cornell 1).
“The fuel is produced in a thermal/mechanical processor called a biomass fractionator. In a matter of minutes, the fractionator converts biomass like crop residues, algae, soft wood chips and rapid growth crops like switchgrass into multiple gas streams and into biochar. The gas can be upgraded to gasoline In a one-step catalytic conversion process.” (Rocke 1). The idea of this fuel source is also very cheap. It runs for about $1.50 per gallon. Finally, the use of Biochar can be shipped at in gallon tanks very easily. Aside from the cost and shipping efficiency, ‘According to one prominent study (Woolf et al, 2010), sustainable biochar implementation could offset a maximum of 12% of anthropogenic GHG emissions on an annual basis. Over the course of 100 years, this amounts to a total of roughly 130 petagrams (106 metric tons) of CO2-equivalents. The study assessed the maximum sustainable technical potential utilizing globally available biomass from agriculture and forestry. The study assumed no land clearance or conversion from food to biomass-crops (though some dedicated biomass-crop production on degraded, abandoned agricultural soils was included), no utilization of industrially treated waste biomass, and biomass extraction rates that would not result in soil erosion” (International Biochar Initiative
Biomass is in many ways a better source of energy. Wood has always been used as a source of fuel for ovens, fires, and traditional heating methods, but the introduction of biomass power brought about more uses and more advantages than wood. Biomass fuel products are readily available and can be produced in large quantity. What’s more, this type of power can be used in anything from energy plants to engines.
In the world of global warming, all kinds of pollution and fuel shortages going on, renewable and clean/ green energy is increasingly the ideal solution of energy related problems we have to solve one way or another. Biofuel is one of the mainstream and highly supported solutions nowadays, an idea to make renewable fuel by living organisms such as fiber, corn, vegetable oil or sugar cane. Unlike nonrenewable fossil fuels over extracted by people causing various environmental problems like generating a considerable amount greenhouse gas, current technology already lets renewable fuel like biofuels to shrink a certain amount of greenhouse gas production, making it a more ‘clean’ source of energy.
Due to desires to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the increasing concerns of trade balances and geopolitics, as well as the growing rise of the price of crude oil, nations worldwide are taking bigger steps in establishing sustainable energy alternatives [1]. In order to meet more sustainable energy needs there has been an increase in the demand of biofuels. With this increase in demand comes the increase demand of water, which is already a limiting factor in food production in many parts of the world. Here I explore the effects of biofuel production on water sources, and how biofuels can possibly remediate degraded water resources. Although the increase production of biofuels can further exacerbate already scarce water, sustainable energy produced from biomass has a great potential to use sources of water that are considered unsuitable for consumption. The sustainability of biofuel production through the use of marginal lands can be improved through the use of degraded water resources. Nitrate contaminated ground water, as well as other degraded water resources have the potential to be used for feed stock productivity [2]. This can also lead to the restoration of contaminated water resources.
The continuous depletion of fossil fuel resources and their increased demand has changed the outlook from ancient resources of fuel to new resources especially biomasses of plant origin. Plant biomass is a promising raw material for fuel generation to sustain fuel requirements in the modern age. Basically biofuel these days can be divided into first generation and second generation depending upon the type of biomass used. Biofuel derived from sugars, oils, cereals, sugarcane and starch are categorised in first generation fuel while use of lignocellulosic biomass like soft and hardwood, agricultural wastes, straw and corn stover provides second generation fuels [1].
Nowadays, people around the world are demanding for more sustainable energy source other conventional fuels such as coal, natural gas and fossil fuel for their daily activities. However, conventional fuels are categorized into a non-renewable energy source. Thus, to overcome this problem, an alternative fuel called as biofuel is used to substitute the conventional fuels. Moreover, biofuel can grow in interest in many developing countries by using “modern” use of biomass to produce the clean liquid fuels. The uses of biomass as a biofuel feedstock may offer new employment prospects for people that stay in that region. The biomass that commonly been used in biofuel is called as algae biofuel or oilgae, in which the oil that does not consist of toxic or sulfur contents in it (Demirbas and Fatih Demirbas, 2011).
Biodiesel is a clean burning renewable fuel made by various mix of agricultural oils, recycled cooking oil and animal fats. It is intended to be used as a substitute for diesel fuel, or can be blended with diesel fuel in any proportion. Biodiesel can be used in almost any diesel engine with slight alteration and no damage to the engine. As it has lower toxicity and safer to handle compared to diesel fuel, it constructs green jobs and improving our environment.
Biomass gasification is a process by which biofuel is produced. It has been used for over 180 years but in the last decades it has been reconsidered as an interesting technique due to the fact that oil supplies are decreasing. As mentioned before, gasification is a thermal process. Heat is added up in order to convert the organic mass to biofuel. The biomass usually undergoes drying, pyrolysis, partial oxidation and reduction. Nowadays the configurations used for gasification are three: fixed bed gasifier, fluidized bed gasifier and entrained bed gasifiers. The simplest configuration is the
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of clean and continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished and theoretically inexhaustible. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, solar and biomass energy (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Depending on the content of the carbon and hydrogen and gasifiers properties, the heating value mainly of the syngas, can domain between 10 to 50 percent that of natural gas. The heating value of syngas mainly becomes from hydrogen and CO produced by the gasification process. the main advantages of the biomass gasification technology are directly burning the biomass and gasification may also be talented using chemicals and biologic action for examples anaerobic digestion. the main bioenergy feedstock for biomass gasification is Bark, Screening Fines an, wood chips and
Among various options available for bio-energy, bio-diesel, bio-ethanol and biomass gasification are three major options, which have huge potential in India to develop as energy sources and where investments made would be economical. The objective of this Business Plan is to review the option of electricity generation through the use of biomass energy.
The heating rate of biomass for fast pyrolysis can be high as 1000°C/s- 10,000°C/s, however maximum temperature for the process is maintained below 650°C. the primary interest is to produce for tis process is to produce bio-oil, however temperature can be increased up to 1000°C produce fuel gases in the same process (Table 1). There are 4 important factors that can affect the liquid yield heating rate, reaction temperature, residence time and rapid quenching of the product gas. Maintaining these factors can increase the liquid yield of biomass and maximize the production of bio-oil.