What is the oldest source of renewable energy? Did you answer wind or water? Wrong. The oldest is biomass energy, which has been in use since mankind started burning logs. [1]
Humans produce a lot of junk. From plastic toys to metal cars, we have junkyards full of the stuff. We also throw out lots of biomass, from rotten bananas to leftover dinners. Fortunately there is a clever approach to recycling some of that material and it’s called biomass energy.
The Science Behind Biomass Energy
Plant and animal materials burn and subsequently release energy. Biomass energy is simple enough: It is the process of turning biomass into a usable electric current. Pretty much the used biomass is thrown onto an open fire and used to boil water, much like you do with logs and twigs when camping.
The process is a little more involved than that – there is filtering of the material to be done, drying of most of the liquid, etc. – but for the most part, that is all there is to it. [3]
Another technique is to let the material decompose and instead harvest the waste methane that the munching bacteria produced. This generally costs more than the wholesale shipping of the matter to the incinerator, but the process is cleaner and less likely to damage the environment.
Why Biomass Energy?
Biomass energy makes sense because we are already tossing the material away. The biomass would already decompose, releasing a significant portion of its locked CO2 back into the atmosphere. It also helps to clean up landfills, which are becoming a growing problem. Many U.S. states are already chock full of them and the few reclamation projects aimed at recovering their land have, for the most part, failed (with a few notable exceptions). [2]
In addition, biomass energy is cheap. The raw resources are easy to obtain, and the process of energy generation is simple. It is quite easy to set up a biomass power plant, and in many areas that is the only type of nearby fuel. [4]
Why Not Biomass Energy?
Biomass energy isn’t without its detractors, however. Many biomass power plants burn the fuel without filtering the smoke, which aerosolizes the chemicals and various other additives in the material. It also causes whatever carbon was locked inside the organism to be released, whereas at least some of it would have been captured had the material been buried. It is also impossible to completely filter out the other trash, so there will be some plastic and various other items that produce poisonous gasses.
Is Biomass Energy Good or Bad?
Biomass energy is in a grey area – it is a cleaner technology than coal, but not as clean as the better green power sources. However, its lower cost per KWh as compared to most green sources of power means that it is a more appealing alternative that is a good middle ground. Of course, no one would argue that cleaning up landfills is a bad thing.
Biomass energy can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how it is done. While there are no easy answers to fulfilling our voracious energy appetite, every avenue, including biomass energy, is worth exploring.
Sources:
1. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-biomass-energy-works.html
2. http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/beaches/bal-bab-vatrashmore,0,4662582.story
3. http://www.biomass.net/how-biomass-energy-works.html
4. http://www.oregon.gov/energy/renew/biomass/cost.shtml
