Biomass Energy Pros and Cons

Biomass energy is the energy that is derived from organic matter of plants and animals. Biomass in the form of dead plants, trees, grass, leaves, crops, manure, garbage animals waste can be a great source of alternative fuels that can be used to replace fossil fuels. Plants make use of process called photosynthesis that converts energy from the sun into chemical energy. This energy gets transferred to animals when they eat plants. When plants and animals waste are burned, the carbon dioxide and waste stored inside them is released back into the atmosphere. This is why biomass energy is said to be renewable.

Biomass energy is, perhaps, one of the more controversial types of alternative energy that is being used today. In this article, we’re going to take a look at the pros and cons of biomass energy that many people bring up when they’re looking at this energy source.

Pros of Biomass Energy

1. Renewable: Biomass energy is a renewable resource. The principal positive about biomass energy is that it creates power by utilizing renewable assets. These assets may be wood waste, tree buildup, handled wood pellets or urban waste. As a rule, biomass energy plants utilize leftover wood that comes from existing logging or sawmill ventures.

2. Dependency on Fossil Fuels is Reduced: It replaces other fuel sources. In all cases, the fuel might be immediately replaced. By utilizing natural materials to deliver power, there is less interest for power created by non-renewable assets, for example, coal and gas. The entire purpose of utilizing renewable energy is to facilitate the reliance on sources that are harming nature’s domain in such a large number of ways.

3. Carbon Neutral: It doesn’t produce carbon. The distinction between using biomass fuel rather than coal or gas is that the carbon that is discharged was already part of nature because of the plant. At the point when coal or gas is utilized it is expelled starting from the earliest stage it has been sequestered for a large number of years.

4. Widely Available: Biomass energy is widely available all over the world. Organic waste in the form of dead leaves, grass and trees, animal carcasses are available in abundance and can be used to produce biomass energy. This in another way is good as the amount of waste that could have gone to landfills can be used as  a source of energy. As long as organic matter from plants and animals is going to exist, we are never going to run out of biomass energy.

5. Can be Used in Many Forms: Biomass can be used to create different products from different forms of organic matter. It can be used to produce methane gas, biodiesel and other biofuels. It can also be used directly as heat or to generate electricity using a steam turbine.

6. Helps Reduce Waste: It helps with waste management. Consistently we create huge amounts of solid waste. This waste involves biodegradable waste, recyclable waste, along with dangerous toxic waste. Biomass energy uses this waste so that it’s no longer sitting in landfills.

Cons of Biomass Energy

1. Not Totally Clean When Burned: The biggest contention against biomass as a clean energy is the pollution that is created from burning the wood and other natural materials. Sometimes, they’re as bad as the pollution that comes from coal and other types of energy resources. There are a number of different compounds that come from burning biomass. Even though biomass energy is considered to be renewable, it is hard to claim it is a clean or efficient power energy.

2. Can Lead to Deforestation: Wood is  a major source of biomass energy. To produce considerable amount of power, large amount of wood and other waste products have to be burned. The desire to produce energy on a large scale can lead to deforestation that would destroy the homes of large number of plants and animals.

3. In-efficient: Biodiesel product like Ethanol which is produced by biomass is relatively inefficient as compared to gasoline. It has to be mixed with gasoline so that it can be used in combustion engines. Apart from that, long term usage of Ethanol can be harmful to the engines.

4. Requires Lot of Space: It’s hard to find a plant that is in a convenient place. Many times, biomass energy plants are found in urban areas, which means that they are causing more traffic in those areas and they are causing more pollution, which seems to be more of a problem than an actual help.

5. Expensive: The last problem that often comes up is how expensive this process is. The production of biomass plants is incredibly expensive and, in some cases, the costs are not worth the benefits. Transport and resource gathering expenses are high and will be continually needed every day. When you compare the process of biomass energy to fossil fuels, you find that the cost is actually much higher.

A typical point that is raised about biomass energy is the need to transport the fuel to the energy plant and the carbon emissions and pollution that is made in doing so. The contention is that this transforms a renewable energy into a type of energy that is dependent on fossil fuel as a feature of the generation, which means that it may not be that useful as a type of “alternative energy.”

It is still advancing. As with many types of alternative energy sources, a lot of time and energy has been put into biomass energy, and a number of scientists have been working to make it more effective and more efficient.

There is a solid contention against biomass in light of the fact that it causes crops to be planted with the aim of collecting for fuel in order to power the biomass plants. By developing crops that are committed to delivering fuel that will, in the end, be used for biomass energy, we are utilizing land that may have been utilized for food sources. This practice is said to be causing some of the food deficiencies in specific parts of the world. This is a complex issue and the recommendation that harvests developed for fuel causes food deficiencies is not necessarily a true statement. Many times, the crops that are planted for fuel are also planted alongside crops that are meant to be used for food as well, making it so that it’s used

For further information log on website :
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/pros-and-cons-of-biomass-energy.php

Wood energy in the future

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The use of wood energy and other types of bioenergy is growing in New Zealand and throughout the world as the demand for sustainable and environmentally sound fuel increases.

Alongside this growing demand is a plentiful supply of wood fuel in New Zealand with wood waste at wood processing sites alone estimated to be 4 million tonnes per year. These demand and supply factors show the potential for the wood energy industry to continue to grow in the future.

Greenhouse gas footprinting

The increasing demand for bioenergy is partly due to international pressure on export markets demanding information on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of products throughout their life-cycle. Industries can reduce their GHG footprint (i.e. carbon footprint) by converting to carbon neutral fuels such as wood over fossil fuels.

Power generation

One factor which could further enhance the supply of energy generated from wood fuel is the potential for the development of small localised bioenergy power stations (i.e. distributed generation). Compared with large centralised power stations, this type of power generation could:

• Cut down on transmission losses
• Minimise the cost of reinforcing or upgrading electricity distribution systems
• Increase the reliability of supply
• Increase local employment and profits 

For further information log on website :
https://www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/technologies/renewable-energy/wood-energy/how-to-use-wood-as-energy/wood-energy-in-the-future/

The Future of Wood

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The forestry industry looks likely to remain profitable as demand continues. Photo / Getty Images

APN / NZ HERALD

 

By: Gary Farrow

The evergreen forests of Pinus radiata on New Zealand's landscapes stand as an undeniable testament to sustainable industry.

Not only that, forestry is also of significant benefit to the national economy, contributing a gross annual income of $5 billion, which amounts to 3 per cent of New Zealand's GDP.

Wood products are the country's third largest export earner, beaten to the top only by the giants of dairy and meat. Most importantly, global demand for wood resources is set to increase markedly in sync with population. This means forestry is set to become a stronger player still, and New Zealand's industry has the potential to be just as relevant in the 21st century as it was at its peak in the 1980s - or indeed more so.

Continuing developments in technology and finished wood products mean forestry can remain a sustainable sector, whilst also being increasingly profitable on the international market.

Sustainable sawmills

Tim Charleson, environment manager at Red Stag Timber, says most sawmills in New Zealand are now sustainably utilising their wood waste to fire boilers, producing steam and drying the saleable wood as needed.

"It's just pure economics," says Charleson.

"I don't see how they could stay in business without utilising wood waste to produce heat. To burn fossil fuels is becoming more expensive now. If you don't burn this wood waste you can have a major disposal issue."

But he adds that Red Stag Timber is going a step further with their wood waste. 
"What we are doing over and above everyone else in the sawmilling industry is that we're also producing electricity from that steam. The investment was made way back in the '80s to put in co-generation when the mill was state-owned."

Microwaving wood waste

Marlborough-based CarbonScape is pursuing the ambitious goal of further developing technology, which it hopes could one day reduce global carbon emissions by a significant amount.

The company has already invented 'green coke' -a substance produced by putting wood waste through a microwaving process, turning it into a form of refined carbon which can be used in steelmaking.

Normally, coal is used to yield refined carbon, so green coke is a much more sustainable choice. It has been used by New Zealand Steel, which is so impressed with Green Coke's contributions to emissions reduction that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CarbonScape, pledging to give technical support with the first green coke production facility which will be built near the New Zealand Steel mill at Glenbrook, south of Auckland.

At the end of November, Carbonscape achieved its funding target on the crowdsourcing website Snowball effect.

The power of biochar

Executive director of CarbonScape, Tim Langley, says the real potential technological impact on forestry long-term lies in a product known as biochar. "It's basically the same product as green coke, but used as oil amendment, and it has all of those activated carbon aspects of being able to retain moisture really, really well. It also acts as a sort of microbial reef in the ground."

He says there's work being done on biochar all over the world, and its impact on forestry globally as a sector is likely to be very large.

"The commercialisation plan is to make those products here in New Zealand, and then export them. Our dream is that they'll be using our technology in China, and using their own forestry over there."

Hole in the pole

Multipole: TTT Products' 'hole in the pole' is opening up a myriad of uses and potential markets. Photo / Supplied

Products are based in Tuakau. They receive raw logs from sustainable forests, before manufacturing and crafting them into poles with a range of modifications for usage in a variety of applications, including for foundations, houses, multi-storey buildings, bridges, telegraph poles, and even marine conditions.

One of their versatile wooden pole designs features a unique hollow core.

"That hole in the pole opens up markets that you just couldn't do before - they just didn't exist," says owner and CEO of TTT, John Reelick.

"Your product moves, it twists, it does a few other things, but putting that hole in it takes all that out, and hence why we can go into markets that we just haven't been able to go in before. Nobody does this on a commercial scale anywhere in the world. The potential is more than huge; it's numbingly big."

He emphasises innovation as the secret. "You've got to think outside the square on what to do with your product, and so that's what we've been doing. We're coming up with ideas and solutions and we're physically putting these in the ground."

Mr Reelick says TTT's approach stands to benefit the forestry industry as it greatly broadens the range of purposes logs can be used for. What's more, it's highly cost-effective.

"We don't use much energy on it, which means our costs can be considerably lower. We're competitive against steel and concrete builders. We've worked out a way in which we're definitely competitive against steel structures, using wood."

TTT featured a range of their poles in the construction of Te Wharehou O Tuhoe, the new iwi and civil defence headquarters for Tuhoe located in Taneatua in the Bay of Plenty.

Read more from Element: Tuhoe's Living Building: A vision for the future
The beauty of wood

Wood is frequently being used in structures in our major cities, too.

The NZI Centre in Auckland, designed by architecture firm Jasmax, has a core building concept inspired by the sustainable and eco-conscious values of the building's occupants, and includes a lot of wood components.

New Zealand timber was also used extensively in the construction of the $65 million, 263-room Novotel at Auckland International Airport. It was developed by Tainui Group Holdings, and also fittingly features direct references to New Zealand's natural environment, culture, art and heritage.

Global demand for wood resources is set to increase in sync with population. Photo / Getty Images

Roger Dickies (NZ) Ltd have been encouraging and helping people to invest in forestry since 1971 -and in light of the industry's promising future, they're not letting up.

They recognise New Zealand as the world's best country for growing radiata pine, with fertile soils and a relatively temperate climate yielding exceptional forests for investors. The trees are generally ready for felling 28 years after planting, which is quick by international standards and makes for a faster payoff.

"We're not new boys on the block," says marketing manager Richard Bourne. "We've been doing this for many years. We've got 90 forests -over 28,000ha -and we're ticking along."

Roger Dickies caters to small investors who may want to buy a$ 15,000 section of forest, right up to a large $250,000 investment in a partnership. They also help companies invest in whole forests of $2.5 to $3 million in value and upwards. Mr Bourne observes forestry to be a great, perpetual, inter-generational investment.

"The local market is mainly covered by a secondary market -when someone gets to retirement, they sell out of their forest, and that gives people an opportunity to invest at all sorts of levels."

Associate Professor Hugh Bigsby, specialising in Forestry Business at Lincoln University in Christchurch, gives his support to forestry investment, believing the sector has bright prospects -not only financially but also environmentally.

"One of the key things about forestry is it has a great potential to be part of the solution for environmental issues when it's integrated across the landscape."

Bigsby argues there's still a huge amount of land in New Zealand which is suitable for planting, which could provide valuable stimulus to the industry and be of environmental benefit to the country through carbon storage.

Added-value

The New Zealand forestry industry was at its peak in the 1980s. In '84, forestry companies including NZ Forest Products, Carter Holt Harvey and Winstone were high on the New Zealand stock exchange.

Despite the visibility of the 21st century dairy boom, the beauty of forestry lies in its unseen, perpetual value.

The financial potential of forestry lies in overseas demand. While raw logs have become a larger part of New Zealand's exports -with a whopping two-thirds being sent to China alone - the value-added finished wood product is set to become more sought-after as the world's population grows and wood supplies decrease.

Bigsby says what sawmills and forestry companies need to start focussing on making their way up the value- added chain.

He admits there is the problem that raw logs are more profitable exports at first glance. 
"It's not unique to New Zealand. I work a lot in Malaysia, and timber producers there have exactly the same problem. In effect, as a forest grower, you earn less money by selling locally than you do by just exporting raw logs, particularly into China."

The secret is to come up with truly innovative and sustainable wood products -and New Zealand businesses are increasingly doing just that. Bigsby says forty years ago New Zealand was the leader in the Radiata pine sector.

However, Chile -in which Carter Holt Harvey once held a notable share of the forestry market -has now leapt ahead, thanks to strategic investment in added-value wood products.

It's time more New Zealand businesses took the same cue, because forestry is only going to gain value internationally in the future. "From a forestry perspective it is all inherently sustainable -t he fundamental ethos of growing the forests is about perpetual crops," Bigsby comments.

"It provides a phenomenal model of a sustainable sector -underpinned by science and well-trained people."

Milk and coal

Fonterra has chosen coal as the source of heat for its milk drying plants. Photo / Getty Images

Environmentalists have been disappointed at Fonterra's refusal to make use of wood waste to fire two large milk drying plants.

Late last year, a Waikato Regional Council hearings panel issued its consent for a coal mine to be opened at Mangatawhiri, south of Auckland.

While the panel acknowledged expert submissions arguing enough wood waste was available to completely substitute for coal in the milk drying plants, the company chose not to consider alternatives, saying that the mine would cause little social disruption.

Meanwhile, another large Fonterra milk powder drying facility in Darfield, near Christchurch, and constructed only last year, will also be fired by coal - citing cost as the reason.

For further information log on website :
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/element-magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503340&objectid=11367687