BIOMASS AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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BIOMASS AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

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Title: BIOMASS AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL


1
BIOMASS AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL
2
What is Biomass?
  • Biomass is any organic matter.
  • Including trees, plants, plant fiber, and animal
    wastes.
  • Biomass is a renewable energy source

3
What is Bioenergy?
  • The energy stored in biomass is called bioenergy.
  • Bioenergy is very versatile It can be used to
    provide heat, make fuels, and generate
    electricity.
  • Many bioenergy sources are replenished through
    the cultivation of fast growing grasses, trees,
    and agricultural residues like vegetable oils,
    wheat straw, or corn.

4
How Much Biomass is Out There?
  • The United States has enough land and
    agricultural networks to sustainably replace half
    of the nations gasoline use or all of its
    nuclear energy.
  • Millions of tons of unused agricultural waste,
    manure, and sawdust has the potential to generate
    energy.

5
No Net Increase In Carbon Dioxide

The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon
dioxide captured by photosynthesis millions of
years ago. In contrast, carbon dioxide released
through the use of biomass is balanced by carbon
dioxide captured by recent growth of biomass This
results in a far less net impact on greenhouse
gas levels
6
Biofuels
  • Biomass is one of the few renewable sources for
    transportation fuels
  • Biofuels produce fewer emissions than petroleum
    fuels
  • The two main types of biofuels are ethanol and
    biodiesel

7
Ethanol
  • Also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol.
  • Ethanol is made from the starch in certain
    grains, such as wheat, corn, or corn byproducts.
  • Ethanol production usually begins with the
    grinding up of biomass such as wheat or corn.
  • Once ground up, the starch or cellulose is
    converted into sugar.
  • The sugar is then fed into microbes that use it
    for food, producing ethanol in the process.

8
New Ethanol Technologies
  • Currently, research is being conducted for making
    ethanol from the cellulose (fiber) component in
    biomass, like municipal solid wastes and
    agricultural residues.
  • This type of ethanol is called bioethanol.
  • The use of bioethanol reduces the emission of
    carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.

9
Ethanol Uses
  • Most gasoline blends contain about 10 percent
    ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.
  • All vehicles are equipped to handle this mixture.
  • Such a mixture reduces greenhouse gases by up to
    4 percent.

10
E85 Fuel
  • Fuel containing 85 percent gasoline and 15
    percent ethanol can be used in flexible fuel
    vehicles.
  • The use of E85 fuel reduces the emission of
    greenhouse gases by up to 37 percent.
  • E85 is considered an alternative fuel under the
    Energy Policy Act of 1992.

11
Biodiesel
  • Biodiesel is a domestically produced renewable
    fuel that can be made from vegetable oils, animal
    fats or recycled restaurant greases.

12
History of Biodiesel
  • Dr. Rudolf Diesel actually invented the diesel
    engine to run on a myriad of fuels including
    vegetable oil.
  • In 1911, He stated the diesel engine can be fed
    with vegetable oils and would help considerably
    in the development of agriculture of the
    countries which use it.
  • He added the use of vegetable oils for engine
    fuels may seem insignificant today but such oils
    may become in course of time as important as
    petroleum and the coal tar products of the
    present time.

13
Biodiesel Today
  • Like ethanol, biodiesel is primarily used as a
    fuel blend. Most diesel blends are comprised of
    20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum
    diesel.
  • No additional modifications need to be added to a
    vehicle that runs on this biodiesel mixture.
  • In addition, higher blends, even pure biodiesel
    can be used in many engines built since 1994 with
    little or no modifications.

14
How is Biodiesel Made?
  • Fats and oils are chemically reacted with
    methanol to produce chemical compounds known as
    fatty acid methyl esters. Biodiesel is the name
    given these esters when theyre intended for use
    as a fuel.
  • Currently, there is enough feedstock to supply
    1.9 billion gallons of biodiesel.

15
Biopower
  • Biopower is the process of using biomass (plant
    and organic matter) to generate electricity.
  • Biomass has been used for lighting, cooking, and
    heating ever since humans first discovered fire.
  • Today, hundreds of US power plants use biomass
    resources to produce 65 billion kilowatt-hours of
    electricity each year.

16
Biopower
  • The wood and paper industries generate and use
    about two-thirds of this power.
  • Biomass is the single largest source of non-hydro
    renewable electricity.

17
Environmental Benefits of Biopower
  • Although biopower production results in increased
    particulate emissions, they are cleaner than coal
    fired power plants because they do not release
    sulfur dioxide.
  • Additionally, bioenergy systems are carbon
    dioxide neutral because the plant material
    absorbs as much carbon dioxide during its life as
    released when it is burned to produce
    electricity.

18
Future Prospects of Bioenergy
  • Bioenergy is generally cost competitive with
    fossil fuel generated electricity when biomass
    residue prices are very low or negative.
  • Transportation costs are key to the price so
    biomass power plants must be sited near an
    ongoing, reliable biomass source.
  • Most analysts believe that the economics of
    bioenergy will improve with higher efficiencies.

19
Biorefinery
  • A biorefinery is a facility that breaks down
    biomass into fuels, power, and chemicals than can
    be used for human use.
  • By producing many different products, a
    biorefinery can take advantage of the differences
    in biomass components and maximize the value
    derived from biomass.

20
Biorefinery
  • To be cost effective, a biorefinery would have
    to be located near a specific biomass resource,
    like a cornfield.
  • Biorefineries are closely modeled after
    petroleum refineries. A lot of the technology
    for an efficient biorefinery has already been
    developed.

21
Biobased Products
  • Biomass can also be used to make everyday
    products that are usually produced using fossil
    fuels
  • Any product that we can make from fossil fuels
    can be identically made from biomass.
  • Moreover, biobased products most often require
    less energy to produce than petroleum based
    products.

22
Biobased Products
  • The U.S. already produces more than 300 billion
    pounds of biobased products each year, not
    including food.
  • Examples of biobased products include plastics,
    cleaning products, natural fibers, natural
    structural materials, and industrial chemicals.
  • Biorefineries can be used to produce a variety of
    products that can be made from biomass. As a
    result, many people predict that biorefineries
    could become commonplace.

23
Biobased Products
  • DuPont has recently developed a biobased method
    that uses corn instead of petroleum based
    processes to produce a polymer platform for use
    in clothing, carpets, and automobile interiors.
  • Additionally, Cargill Dow has a biorefinery in
    Blair, Nebraska that is currently producing
    polymers from corn sugar.

24
Biomass and the Future
  • The ability to cost effectively collect, store,
    and transport biomass presents many challenges.
  • Infrastructure will have to be built to ensure a
    safe and efficient supply system for biomass.
  • The biggest challenge is the cost of bioenergy
    As long as fossil fuels remain cheaper than
    bioenergy, people will be hesitant to invest in
    this technology.
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