SLBS Engineering College

Chapter-1
BIOMASS ENERGY
INTRODUCTION
Biomass energy is a renewable energy source that is produced by converting organic
materials that come from plants and animals into energy such as electricity. We have been
making good use of this source of energy ever since man discovered fire and used it to burn
wood to heat his home and cook his meals.
Wood is still the most common form of biomass materials used today, although other
examples include crops such as corn and sugar cane, manure, garbage, forestry residues like
sawdust and wood chips, and many other types of plant life. Even algae can be used as a
biomass material to produce biomass energy.

How Biomass Energy Is Produced

Biomass materials, during their lifetime, absorb energy from the sun and carbon dioxide
gases from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis. When its time for us to harness
this power and create biomass energy, we release the solar energy that has been harvested by
various methods including burning. The energy released is given off in the form of thermal
energy and can be used to heat water and produce steam turbine to generate electricity.
The production of thermal energy is not the only method in which we create energy
from biomass materials. Manure and rotting garbage from landfills can be used to harvest
methane gases and the fermentation of crops like corn and sugar cane can be used to create
liquid bio fuel, which can be used to produce the transportation fuel known as ethanol.

The Use of Ethanol as a Fuel

Currently, ethanol has the highest volume of production of any bio-fuel today with more than
100 million barrels coming from corn grain each year. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel that can be
made not just from corn, but also wheat, sorghum, potato skins, rice, sugar beets, and yard
clippings.
Ethanol can be combined with gasoline to fuel cars, reducing the amount of oil we
consume each year. This combination of gas and ethanol in your engine can often make your
engine burn hotter and operate more efficiently. Any engine that can be powered by gasoline
can use a combination of 90 percent gas and 10 percent ethanol, called E10. Some states, like
Minnesota actually require the use of E10, because it helps reduce pollutants like carbon

SLBS Engineering College

monoxide in the air. Special engines are required for liquid fuel that contains more than 10
percent ethanol.

Biomass Energy and Its Impact on the Environment

While its been argued that the burning of biomass materials releases carbon dioxide into the
air, a known greenhouse gas, this argument doesnt take into account the fact that the biomass
materials only release the carbon dioxide that they had originally consumed. When we grow
biomass materials, they naturally store the energy of the sun and consume carbon dioxide and
release oxygen. That same amount of carbon dioxide the materials absorbed is then released
back into the atmosphere once it is converted to energy.

Fig1. Carbon cycle

Fossil fuels on the other hand release pollutants and carbon dioxide that was captured
millions of years ago, essentially introducing new pollution in the air. Fossil fuels also
release sulfur which is the main cause of acid rain.
And, unlike fossil fuels, biomass materials are truly a renewable and sustainable
source of energy as long as we continue to replenish what we use in terms of replanting crops
are easy to grow, harvest, and replace without scarring the earth or depleting natural
materials.

SLBS Engineering College

The Benefits of Biomass Energy to the Economy

When more than 60 percent of the petroleum we consume today is imported from other
nations, biomass can have a significant impact on our economy. Biomass energy can
effectively lessen our dependency on foreign oil imports and can reduce the price of gasoline
when we use ethanol as a transportation fuel. With todays resources and technology, we can
effectively replace about 30 percent of our petroleum consumption biomass.
Oil requires massive amounts of capital to explore and find new areas to drill. Ethanol
is a reliable, constant source of fuel that can be grown right within our borders, without the
harmful effects or consequences that arise from oil spills.
The production of ethanol also takes the money out of hands of foreign oil giants and
puts it into the hands of American farmers who desperately need to develop new ways to
increase their revenue. And while some may argue that the use of corn in the production of
ethanol has been the major cause for the increase in prices of corn, because the supply was
depleted, a recent study by the Agricultural and Food Policy Centre of Texas A&M
University sites evidence to the contrary.
The study states that underlying force that is responsible for the increased price in
corn and other agricultural commodities is the higher energy costs of oil. Higher energy costs
translate to higher production costs for the agricultural industry. Rising fertilizer costs
reduced the number of acres planted in 2006-2007 by more than 3 million! This reduction in
acreage leaves the crops more vulnerable to natural disasters such as storms and can drive the
price up significantly.
This chain of decreased production has hit the livestock market the hardest, since they
have to purchase corn to feed their animals. However, recent advancements in ethanol
production through a process called dry grind ethanol production can help offset these prices
for livestock producers. In dry grind are produced, which can be used to feed livestock.
Distiller grains have a higher protein and energy content than corn and can help increase the
daily weight grain of livestock.

SLBS Engineering College

Chapter-2
Biomass Conversion Technologies
Bioenergy consists of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuels. Liquid fuels can be used directly in the
existing road, railroad, and aviation transportation network stock, as well as in engine and
turbine electrical power generators. Solid and gaseous fuels can be used for the production of
electrical power from purpose-designed direct or indirect turbine-equipped power plants.
Chemical products can also be obtained from all organic matter produced. Additionally power
and chemicals can come from the use of plant-derived industrial, commercial, or urban
wastes, or agricultural or forestry residues.Biomass resources include primary, secondary, and
tertiary sources of biomass. Primary biomass resources are produced directly by
photosynthesis and are taken directly from the land. They include perennial short-rotation
woody crops and herbaceous crops, the seeds of oil crops, and residues resulting from the
harvesting of agricultural crops and forest trees (e.g., wheat straw, corn stover, and the tops,
limbs, and bark from trees). Secondary biomass resources result from the processing of
primary biomass resources either physically (e.g., the production of sawdust in mills),
chemically (e.g., black liquor from pulping processes), or biologically (e.g., manure
production by animals). Tertiary biomass resources are post-consumer residue streams
including animal fats and greases, used vegetable oils, packaging wastes, and construction
and demolition debris.