Biomass

Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane ^[1], and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not very important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing.

Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.

Plastics from biomass, like some recently developed to dissolve in seawater, are made the same way as petroleum-based plastics, are actually cheaper to manufacture and meet or exceed most performance standards. But they lack the same water resistance or longevity as conventional plastics.^[2]

Processing and uses

Burning biomass, or the fuel products produced from it, may be used for heat or electricity production.

Environmental impact

Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon from the atmosphere is converted into biological matter by photosynthesis. On death or combustion the carbon goes back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO₂). This happens over a relatively short timescale and plant matter used as a fuel can be constantly replaced by planting for new growth. Therefore a reasonably stable level of atmospheric carbon results from its use as a fuel. It is accepted that the amount of carbon stored in dry wood is approximately 50% by weight.^[5]

Though biomass is a renewable fuel, and is sometimes called a "carbon neutral" fuel, its use can still contribute to global warming. This happens when the natural carbon equilibrium is disturbed; for example by deforestation or urbanization of green sites. When biomass is used as a fuel, as a replacement for fossil fuels, it still puts the same amount of CO₂ into the atmosphere. However, when biomass is used for energy production it is widely considered carbon neutral, or a net reducer of greenhouse gasses because of the offset of methane that would have otherwise entered the atmosphere. The carbon in biomass material, which makes up approximately fifty percent of its dry-matter content, is already part of the atmospheric carbon cycle. Biomass absorbs CO₂ from the atmosphere during its growing lifetime, after which its carbon reverts to the atmosphere as a mixture of CO₂ and methane (CH₄), depending on the ultimate fate of the biomass material. CH₄ converts to CO₂ in the atmosphere, completing the cycle. In contrast to biomass carbon, the carbon in fossil fuels is locked away in geological storage forever, unless extracted. The use of fossil fuels removes carbon from long-term storage, and adds it to the stock of carbon in the atmospheric cycle.

Energy produced from biomass residues displaces the production of an equivalent amount of energy from fossil fuels, leaving the fossil carbon in storage. It also shifts the composition of the recycled carbon emissions associated with the disposal of the biomass residues from a mixture of CO₂ and CH₄, to almost exclusively CO₂. In the absence of energy production applications, biomass residue carbon would be recycled to the atmosphere through some combination of rotting (biodegradation) and open burning. Rotting produces a mixture of up to fifty percent CH₄, while open burning produces five to ten percent CH₄. Controlled combustion in a power plant converts virtually all of the carbon in the biomass to CO₂. Because CH₄ is a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO₂, shifting CH₄ emissions to CO₂ by converting biomass residues to energy significantly reduces the greenhouse warming potential of the recycled carbon associated with other fates or disposal of the biomass residues.

The existing commercial biomass power generating industry in the United States, which consists of approximately 1,700 MW (megawatts) of operating capacity actively supplying power to the grid, produces about 0.5 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. This level of biomass power generation avoids approximately 11 million tons per year of CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion. It also avoids approximately two million tons per year of CH₄ emissions from the biomass residues that, in the absence of energy production, would otherwise be disposed of by burial (in landfills, in disposal piles, or by the plowing under of agricultural residues), by spreading, and by open burning. The avoided CH₄ emissions associated with biomass energy production have a greenhouse warming potential that is more than 20 times greater than that of the avoided fossil-fuel CO₂ emissions. Biomass power production is at least five times more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than any other greenhouse-gas-neutral power-production technology, such as other renewables and nuclear. ^[6]

Currently, the New Hope Power Partnership, owned by Florida Crystals Corporation, is the largest biomass power plant in North America. The 140 MWH facility uses sugar cane fiber (bagasse) and recycled urban wood as fuel to generate enough power for its large milling and refining operations as well as to supply renewable electricity for nearly 60,000 homes. The facility reduces dependence on oil by more than one million barrels per year, and by recycling sugar cane and wood waste, preserves landfill space in urban communities in Florida.

Despite harvesting, biomass crops may sequester (trap) carbon. So for example soil organic carbon has been observed to be greater in switchgrass stands than in cultivated cropland soil, especially at depths below 12 inches.^[10] The grass sequesters the carbon in its increased root biomass. But the perennial grass may need to be allowed to grow for several years before increases are measurable.^[11]

Biomass production for human use and consumption

This is a list of estimated biomass for human use and consumption. It does not include biomass which is not harvested or utilised.

Biome Ecosystem Type	Area	Mean Net Primary Production	World Primary Production	Mean biomass	World biomass	Minimum replacement rate
(million km�)	(gram dryC / m� / year)	(billion tonnes / year)	(kg dryC / m�)	(billion tonnes)	(years)
Tropical rain forest	17.00	2,200.00	37.40	45.00	765.00	20.50
Tropical monsoon forest	7.50	1,600.00	12.00	35.00	262.50	21.88
Temperate evergreen forest	5.00	1,320.00	6.60	35.00	175.00	26.52
Temperate deciduous forest	7.00	1,200.00	8.40	30.00	210.00	25.00
Boreal forest	12.00	800.00	9.60	20.00	240.00	25.00
Mediterranean open forest	2.80	750.00	2.10	18.00	50.40	24.00
Desert and semidesert scrub	18.00	90.00	1.62	0.70	12.60	7.78
Extreme desert, rock, sand or ice sheets	24.00	3.00	0.07	0.02	0.48	6.67
Cultivated land	14.00	650.00	9.10	1.00	14.00	1.54
Swamp and marsh	2.00	2,000.00	4.00	15.00	30.00	7.50
Lakes and streams	2.00	250.00	0.50	0.02	0.04	0.08
Total continental	149.00	774.51	115.40	12.57	1,873.42	16.23
Open ocean	332.00	125.00	41.50	0.003	1.00	0.02
Upwelling zones	0.40	500.00	0.20	0.02	0.01	0.04
Continental shelf	26.60	360.00	9.58	0.01	0.27	0.03
Algal beds and reefs	0.60	2,500.00	1.50	2.00	1.20	0.80
Estuaries & mangroves	1.40	1,500.00	2.10	1.00	1.40	0.67
Total marine	361.00	152.01	54.88	0.01	3.87	0.07
Grand total	510.00	333.87	170.28	3.68	1,877.29	11.02

Wood biomass

The most promising source of alternative energy is the production of wood biomass harvested from the pruning and thinning out by rotation of double and triple rows of rapid growing trees. The production of biomass trough the cultivation of corn, colza, or sugar beets has considerable higher energy costs that that of wood. Trees such as eucalyptus, poplar and California cypress with an adequate water supply, for example when planted in a draw or irrigated trough a drip sistem, woul reach production size in three years.

It would be necessary to modify the present European Community Agricultural Policy an the relevant national and regional laws relating to the payment of subsidies for uncultivated agricultural land. Instead of giving subsidies for layout land payments should be destined to reforestation with emphasis on the installation of harvestable cellulose cultivation. Placing two or three rows of trees along paths, roads, boundary lines, ditches and draws would also enrich the environment and would provide shaded paths for alternative forms of tourism such as horse riding, bicycling, bird watching and photo safari. The wood biomass could also be transformed into pellets to be used in substitution of coal and oil presently burned in heating furnaces.

Furthermore the rows of tress would absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. The trees would also be useful as windbreaks, for erosion control and for an increased conservation of humidity derived from dew. By cultivating various crops simultaneously on the land one could produce foods products an, a the same time, establish rotating area for the production of wood biomass that, in a relatively short time, would guarantee a continuous source of biomass

It would be essential that every province build a transformation station for the production of biogas and biodiesel from the wood biomass. One could consider reusing the sugar refinery plants that are destined for closure. Trough the use of technical assistance, propaganda and subside to the farmers, within five years the production of wood biomass could be increased ten times and more the present production.

Biomass

Contents

Processing and uses

Environmental impact

Biomass production for human use and consumption

Wood biomass

See also

References

External links

General information

Around the world

In the United States