Biomass

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Bioenergy > Feedstocks > Biomass


Wood is a form of biomass.

Used in its more general sense, biomass refers to the total mass of living matter in a given area. Within the context of bioenergy, biomass generally refers to organic material from plants and animals, including agricultural and municipal waste products, but excluding food products.

  • Biomass such as cow dung or wood (that is, "traditional biomass") have been used traditionally throughout the world. However, increasing use of biomass resources, especially wood, can lead to forest degradation, deforestation, and consequently desertification. For this reason, solar cookers are being promoted as an alternative to the use of firewood, such as in Africa.

Contents

Types of biomass crops

Technologies

Northeastern U.S. pine forest. Selectively harvested biomass from forests can be transformed into different forms of bioenergy.

Biomass can be transformed into different forms of bioenergy in a variety of ways, from the low tech to the high.

Emerging technologies

Organizations

Events

Women and girls in parts of developing countries spend many hours collecting wood for cooking in the home. (Flickr Creative Commons image by Genocide Intervention Network).

2011

2010

2009

  • 23-24 October 2009, Boulder, Colorado, USA: Energy Justice Conference (Themes: biomass, energy access, indoor air pollution)
    • From the Conference Rationale: "This conference will focus on...the energy oppressed poor (EOP) - afflicted by energy access problems....[T]he low energy world...primarily relies on biomass-based fire to meet all of its energy needs....Black soot emitted by imperfect combustion of biomass creates indoor pollution causing the annual death of a million and half persons....In addition, black soot in the atmosphere has recently been identified as a significant source of global warming."

2008

2007

News

2010

  • (U.K.'s largest power station) Drax suspends plan to replace coal with greener fuel, 19 February 2010 by Times Online: "Britain’s biggest power station has suspended its plan to replace coal with greener fuel, leaving the Government little chance of meeting its target for renewable energy."
    • "The power station, which is the country’s largest single source of CO2, has invested £80 million in a processing unit for wood, straw and other plant-based fuels, known as biomass."
    • "Drax is also one of dozens of companies delaying investments in new biomass power stations because of uncertainty over the Government’s policy on long-term subsidies. Hundreds of farmers growing biomass crops may now struggle to sell their produce."
    • "Drax’s decision will make it almost impossible for the Government to meet its commitment to increase the proportion of electricity from renewable sources from 5.5 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020."
    • "The Renewable Energy Association said that plans for more than 50 biomass projects, totalling £13 billion of investment, had been suspended because of uncertainty over policy."[1]
  • Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels, Clean Coal, 3 February 2010, US Department of Energy Press release: "At a meeting with a bipartisan group of governors from around the country, the President laid out three measures that will work in concert to boost biofuels production and reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil."
    • "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule to implement the long-term renewable fuels standard of 36 billion gallons by 2022 established by Congress. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a rule on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) that would provide financing to increase the conversion of biomass to bioenergy."
    • "In addition, President Obama announced a Presidential Memorandum creating an Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage to develop a comprehensive and coordinated federal strategy to speed the development and deployment of clean coal technologies."[2]

2009

  • Launching of the ‘National Biomass Cookstove Initiative’ by Indian Government, 3 December 2009 by HEDON Household Energy Network: "The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy launched a New Initiative on Improved Biomass Cookstoves 'National Biomass Cookstove Initiative' on the 2nd of December 2009 in New Delhi."
    • "A large section of [India's] population – 75% of the rural households and 22% of the urban households, according to the National Sample Survey’s 61st survey -- still uses biomass for its cooking needs. An estimated 80% of the residential energy in India comes from biomass, much of it burnt in traditional chulhas."
    • "[P]roviding a clean cooking energy option for these households will yield enormous gains in terms of health and socio-economic welfare of the weakest and the most vulnerable sections of society. At the same time, the cleaner combustion in these devices will greatly reduce the products of incomplete combustion which are greenhouse pollutants, thus helping combat climate change." [4]
  • Tasmania gets Australia's first REDD deal, 27 July 2009 by mongabay.com: "A forest conservation project in Tasmania has become Australia's first Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project to meet Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards."
    • "'The goal is to protect half a million hectares across Australia within the next 5 years...'"
    • "Recent biomass surveys have found that some old-growth forests in Tasmania store more than 650 tons of carbon per hectare, exceeding the amount of carbon stored in the vegetation of most tropical rainforests. Plantations established in place of old-growth forests after clearing store considerable less carbon." [5]
  • Biomass energy 'could be harmful', 14 April 2009 by BBC News: "Biomass power - such as burning wood for energy - could do more harm than good in the battle to reduce greenhouse gases, the [UK] Environment Agency warns."
    • "Biomass is considered low carbon as long as what is burnt is replaced by new growth, and harvesting and transport do not use too much fuel."
    • "The EA's report reiterated the belief that biomass had the potential to play a 'major role' in producing low carbon, renewable energy to help meet future energy needs and help cut greenhouse gas emissions."
    • "But the report Biomass: Carbon Sink or Carbon Sinner (PDF file) also found that the greenhouse gas emission savings from such fuels were currently highly variable."[8]
  • Bacteria for Better Biofuels, 30 March 2009 by Scienceline: Scientists "have found a unique way to increase the growth of one promising biofuel source on marginal land: just add bacteria."
    • In a study, "researchers focused on improving the growth of poplar trees. These trees are known for their rapid growth and ability to survive in many different types of climates, both ideal traits for biofuel production. The Brookhaven group found that adding the right kinds of naturally occurring bacteria to the roots of poplar trees increased their biomass production by up to 80 percent over ten weeks, according to van der Lelie."[9]

2008

  • Farm Bill Establishes New Biomass Crop Assistance Program, 23 May 2008 press release by 25 x '25: "A program to encourage farmers to establish and grow biomass crops in areas around biomass facilities has been included in the recently adopted [U.S.] 2008 Farm Bill. The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) would help producers willing to switch part or all of their acreage to dedicated energy crops."
    • "Agricultural producers in BCAP project areas may contract with USDA to receive biomass crop establishment payments" plus other payments to support crop harvesting, storage, and transport...."Producers are also prohibited from planting noxious or invasive plants as part of the program."
    • The bill "also sets up through the U.S. Forest Service a competitive research and development program to encourage use of forest biomass for energy....The bill encourages USDA to work closely with the Pine Genome Initiative (PGI), which proponents say would promote healthy forests and the development of new biofuels technology."[12]

Resources



Biomass edit
Biomass energy - Biopower/Bioelectricity | Woody biomass | Emerging biomass industries
Biomass sources: Traditional - Trees/Wood - Agricultural waste | Potential - Seaweed


Household energy edit
Household energy use: Biomass (Dung, Wood)
Bioenergy feedstocks edit

Biodiesel feedstocks:
Currently in use: Animal fat | Castor beans | Coconut oil | Jatropha | Jojoba | Karanj | Palm oil | Rapeseed | Soybeans | Sunflower seed | Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)
Currently in research and development: Algae | Halophytes (Salt-tolerant plants)


Ethanol feedstocks:
First-generation: Cassava | Corn | Milo | Nypa palm | Sorghum | Sugar beets | Sugar cane | Sugar palm |Sweet potato | Waste citrus peels | Wheat | Whey
Second-generation: For cellulosic technology - Grasses: Miscanthus, Prairie grasses, Switchgrass | Trees: Hybrid poplar, Mesquite, Willow


Charcoal feedstocks: Bamboo | Wood
Waste-to-energy (MSW)


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