Biomass+Research



=What Is Biomass?= Biomass is a renewable energy source. It is a biological material from living, or recently living organisms. Some examples of living or recently living organisms are.
 * Fast growing trees and grasses
 * Wood waste like paper trash, yard clippings, sawdust or wood chips
 * Methane that is captured from landfills, livestock, and or municipal waste water treatment



= = = Science Behind The Energy Resource: = Essentially, biomass is stored solar energy that man can convert to electricity, fuel and heat.

=Advantages To Biomass:= Some advantages to using biomass as an energy source:
 * Fuel is cheap if readily available onsite
 * We can basically recycle the things we would otherwise throw out
 * Available throughout the world
 * Emissions are relatively clean burning; the alcohol is viable

When burned, both biomass fuels and fossil fuels release about the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, there is a distinct difference in the effect they have on the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuel releases carbon dioxide that was captured millions of years ago during photosynthesis, while biomass fuel releases carbon dioxide that was recently captured during photosynthesis and it tends to equal itself out. Therefore, biomass fuel is less harmful to the ozone layer.

Countries in the Middle East and other foreign oil producing nations are becoming more and more significant as the need for oil rises. As biomass fuel becomes more and more available, the dependence we as a nation will have on other nations for fuel will become much less necessary.

There is an incredible need to find alternative sources of fuel. Biomass is perfect for an alternative because it is renewable. Fuel can be produced using grains and organic waste that would otherwise be unused, such as paper, household garbage, dead trees, leaves, grass, and animal carcasses can be used to produce biomass energy. Many of these plants and grains can be replaced the very next growing season. This means that a large amount of solid waste, which is currently just dumped into landfills, can be used as a source of energy. This could have the effect of reducing the amount of waste generated and sent to landfills or placed on barges and sent out to sea by millions of tons a year.

Therefore, there is no need to drill for it, it will never run out, and it is a lot less dangerous to transport and handle than fossil fuels are. The danger to the ecology is considerably reduced even if there would be a spill in the ocean because a biomass spill would not have far-reaching and long-term consequences, so it is a lot less harmful to the environment.

Biomass can be used in many forms. It can be compressed into bricks that are burned to produce heat, electricity, or other forms of energy. It can be processed and refined to produce alcohols and methane gas, both of which make clean burning sources of energy. Biomass energy can save a great deal of many in transportation costs alone because it can be used in the same area in which it is produced more cost effectively than having huge pipelines or long distance transmission lines.

=Disadvantages To Biomass:= Some disadvantages to biomass are:
 * Increased greenhouse gas emissions, although they are slight
 * It takes more energy to plant and cultivate the crops for the biomass production
 * The space that is taken up planting the crops for the plant could be used for something else

= Cost To Build/Install: =

= =

**Things that change cost:**
 * LCOE- localized cost of energy
 * Readily available fuel or not
 * Fuel on site=cheaper as no transportation costs
 * Fuel not on site=inflation as the transportation costs rise

= = = = =Cost To Operate:= It takes 5.2 to 6.7 cents per kilowatt-hour to operate biomass energy. Vegetable oil seed procurement, transport, storage and oil extraction accounts for at least 75 percent of the cost of producing biodiesel. The range of production cost is$1.30 to $2.56 per gallon. A mix of 20% biodiesel fuel and 80% petroleum diesel reduces the cost to around $1.10 per gallon. 13 billion gallons are produced annually as of 2011.

=Geographic Features Unique To Biomass:=

==== Biomass energy is a form of renewable energy derived form living or recently living biological material. Biomass energy can be formed using materials such as garbage, wood, waste, hydrogen gases, and alcohol fuels. Due to the number of different materials used a biomass energy factory really has no geographical factors that play into where it’s located. With the diverse group of sources factories are located in numerous areas around the world. ====

=Impact On Population:=

//Effects on Health//
Biomass burning: Most people recover and do not suffer long-term effects from the smoke.

//** Many different things go in to effect when it comes to deciding if the smoke will be dangerous or not. **//
 * concentration of the air pollutants
 * length of the exposure
 * the age of the person being exposed
 * the susceptibility and whether there is pre-existing lung/heart diseases present.

//** Different health effects include: **//
 * eye and respiratory tract irritation
 * breathing problems
 * bronchitis
 * severe asthma
 * cancer
 * premature death

The small, fine particles of the smoke go deep into the lungs and combines with other air pollutants and make pre-existing diseases, worse. High levels of carbon monoxide are poisonous however, when it rises from smoke, it does not usually reach the levels that are risky to the population.