Introduction to Bio-Energy

Bioenergy is produced from a variety of organic materials, called biomass, such as wood, charcoal, dung and other manures for heat and power production, and agricultural crops for liquid biofuels. Most biomass is used in rural areas for cooking, lighting and space heating, generally by poorer populations in developing countries.

Modern biomass systems include dedicated crops or trees, residues from agriculture and forestry, and various organic waste streams.

Energy created by burning biomass creates greenhouse gas emissions, but at lower levels than burning fossil fuels like coal, oil or gas. However, bioenergy should only be used in limited applications, given potential negative environmental impacts related to large-scale increases in forest and bioenergy plantations, and resulting deforestation and land-use change.

Impacts of Bio-Energy

• Deforestation
  

  There are plenty of bioenergy plants that use waste –whether that be agricultural or animal– as a fuel source. However, many energy companies use forest timber for fuel and clear-cut mature trees that, if left untouched, remove carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Actions like these lead to deforestation, causing habitat loss, soil erosion, destruction of natural beauty, and more.

• Pollution
  

  Outside of contributing carbon dioxide emissions, burning biomass in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state can also emit other pollutants and particulate matter into the air, including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. In some instances, the biomass burned can emit more pollution than fossil fuels. Unlike carbon dioxide emissions, many of these pollutants cannot be sequestered by new plants. These compounds can lead to a number of environmental and human health issues if not properly contained.

• Water use
  

  Plants require water to grow; when energy companies grow trees and other crops for a bioenergy plant, they use a lot of water for irrigation. On a large scale, this exacerbates drought conditions, impacting aquatic habitats and the amount of water supply available for other purposes (food crops, drinking, hydropower, etc.).

Advantages of Bio-Energy

• Biomass helps climate change by reducing GHG
  

  Biomass helps reduce the amount of GHG that give more impact to global warming and climate change. The biomass emissions level is far smaller compared to fossil fuels. The basic difference between biomass and fossil fuels when it comes to amount of carbon emissions is: all the CO2 which has been absorbed by plant for its growth is going back in the atmosphere during its burning for the production of biomass energy. While the CO2 produced from fossil fuels is going to atmosphere where it increases greenhouse effect.

• Cleaner environment
  

  Biomass energy helps to clean our environment. World population is constantly increasing with a increasing increased waste which needs to be properly disposed. Many of garbage ends up in water resources harming ecosystems and having negative impact on human health. This garbage could be used for valorisation and produced energy, bioferilizers and other products.

• Biomass is widely available source of energy
  

  Biomass is widely available energy source. The sources are from agriculture, forestry,fisheries, aquaculture, algae and waste. Many energy experts agree that when you combine economic and environmental character of energy sources biomass is on top of the list as one of the best energy sources.

• GHG emission balances for biomass-fuelled electricity and heat applications
  

  GHG balances for a wide range of technologies to produce electricity and heat were prepared by Elsayed, Matthews and Mortimer (2003). System boundaries encompassed the entire chain from fuel production to end-use. Some biomass systems show net GHG emissions savings of more than 40% of the substituted fossil alternatives, while some others only score 4%. Thus, the span of the environmental benefit is wide, and the effective value will depend on the particular application situation (technology, scale etc).

Applications of Bio-Engergy

Biomass systems range from small stoves used in homes for heating or cooking to large power plants used by centralized utilities to produce electricity.

In residential applications, biomass can be used for space heating or for cooking. Wood is the most common source of fuel, although many different materials are used. New designs for woodstoves can improve the efficiency of the cooking or heating system, decreasing the amount of fuel that is needed.

Industry and businesses use biomass for several purposes including space heating, hot water heating, and electricity generation. Many industrial facilities, such as lumber mills, naturally produce organic waste.

Gaseous:

• biogas and biomethane
• syngas

liquid:

• ethanol
• biodiesel
• green diesel
• straight vegetable oil
• biogasoline
• bioethers

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