What is the energy efficiency of biomass energy?

Answer 1

To understand the potential of "biomass" as a fuel supply, it is necessary to understand the term in the first place. Biomass refers to material of recent biological origin from which energy or energy-rich compounds can be derived.

Biomass has been used for all of human history as a fuel source. Inits most crude form, the burning of stalks, wood, dung, and the like as domestic fuel is the use of biomass. Such conversions (the burning) tend to release little of the available energy and produces large amounts of pollution because of its incomplete combustion.

Biomass, as it is used today, typically refers to the conversion of mass crops such as corn, rice hulls, switch grass, and other agricultural products or byproducts in to either electricity or high-density fuel storage compounds (ethanol, for instance).

To convert biomass into electricity, it is typically burned under close supervision (so as to maximize the actual combustion process). The burned biomass releases heat which boils water which, in turn, turns large electric turbines. This is, in fact, much the same method that is used in nuclear plants (with nuclear reactions being replaced by burning biomass). In this way, there is a wide availability of resources "to burn."

Some plants can be converted into other compounds; corn is the product that is used to produce ethanol. Such a process is now, through dedicated research, finally becoming economically viable.

A downside of this is that each crop generally requires a different fuel-production process. Another downside, one that is rarely mentioned, is that for such crops to be grown in the amounts that they have to be to satisfy modern societies, massive amounts of fertilizer are necessary. Corn, for instance, is well-suited to produce ethanol because, among other reasons, corn holds a lot of energy. This energy comes mainly from the sun but also from the nitrogen in the various compounds inside corn. The solar energy is stored within the bonds of the nitrogen compounds by "fixing" (that is, "nitrogen fixing")- making molecules with the potential energy stored as chemical bonds with nitrogen atoms. This nitrogen comes from the soil. The natural land cannot support such a massive debt of nitrogen and crops that grow on this land are forced to rely on the nitrogen from commercial fertilizers such as ammonia. Production of this fertilizer generally requires intensive use of petroleum. It should also be noted that massive fertilization practices are also changing the natural fabric of rural environments in ways that science is just beginning to understand.

Biomass-derived fuels tend to burn much cleaner than their petroleum counterparts; this is typically the tagline associated with their use, and it does typically hold true.

Biomass as a fuel source does have its drawbacks, but there are also numerous benefits to its use and further research. It is important, however, to remember that there is no single panacea to the need for energy. The eventual solution will involve many different brands of "alternative energy" and biomass will likely be among the most viable.

Answer 2

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library.html Journey to Forever Online Biofuels Library http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_manual/manual_ToC.html The Manual for the Home and Farm Production of Alcohol Fuel Energy Crop Fuel Analysis ---- Summary: The below fuel analysis (Laboratory ID Number AC24135) was performed by the Southern Research Institute (the engineering research arm of The Southern Company) for energy crop (closed loop biomass) eucalyptus fuel used at our co-firing test burn at Lakeland Electric's McIntosh 3 Unit (a 365 MW pulverized coal boiler). An additional source for both fuel and air emission data can be found in the Tampa Electric Energy Crop Co-firing Report on their Polk Power IGCC Unit. http://www.treepower.org/fuels/analysis.html www.itdg.org/docs/technical_information_service/biomass.pdf http://www.thegreenpowergroup.org/biomass.html Summary: Chemical composition of biomass syngas versus coal syngas and natural gas (i.e., hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, Oxygen, Methane, Nitrogen, ethane, and HHV). Go to: http://www.treepower.org/fuels/biomasssyngas.html

Answer 3

How biomass works is very simple. The waste wood, tree branches and other scraps are gathered together in big trucks. The trucks bring the waste from factories and from farms to a biomass power plant. Here the biomass is dumped into huge hoppers. This is then fed into a furnace where it is burned. The heat is used to boil water in the boiler, and the energy in the steam is used to turn turbines and generators

Answer 4

Potential

The energy in biomass is stored ready to be used to turn into kinetic energy which is movement.

Answer 5

35 percent