Bioenergy: The Energy of the Future

1. Bioenergy: The Energy of the Future Energy Project Ben and Jerome Due: 11/13/08

2. Bioenergy Facts • Renewable Resource • Made from burning biomass • Biomass is agricultural waste(cow and chicken dung) and organic materials (plants and trees) • It is wherever plants and animals are, so pretty much everywhere • When you’re burning wood for a fire, that’s using biomass • Biomass has been around since the caveman period • 1st man-made energy EVER

3. Biomass Generators • A bioenergy generator traps the heat from burning biomass in a special plant • They burn the different forms of biomass and use the heat to create steam • The steam is funneled at high pressure to turbines • The turbines turn a generator • The generator produces energy

4. Biomass Generators Cont.

5. Bioenergy Costs • One kilowatt-hour (how many kilowatts are produced in an hour) of bioenergy costs from 5-7 cents (5.2 – 6.7) • In the future this will be reduced to 2.8 cents a kilowatt-hour • A biomass power plant costs from $1,500 to $2,000 • The price of energy crops(sugarcane, corn, soybeans etc.) costs from $30 -$40 • Ethanol costs from $0.80 to $1.20 a gal to make

6. How Biomass Effects the Environment • When burning biomass, the only CO2 that it emits is the CO2 that it took in while alive • It reduces soil erosion and water pollution because the roots of the plants hold in the ground and keep it from rolling away into the ocean • It keeps habitat safe from industrializing • It can provide shade for aquatic animals if planted by the water • Birds can make nests in it when migrating • A lot of landfill space would be saved because all of the agricultural waste would be burned instead

7. Current and Possible Uses • It supplies 3% of the USA’s energy needs and 55% of India’s • Biomass heats homes and supplies heat for cooking in developing countries • Wood biomass is the 4th largest energy resource in the world • It reduces landfill space because municipal waste would be burned instead

8. Positive Aspects • It does not cause carbon emissions because it is cleaner burning than fossil fuels • Ethanol is less toxic and more biodegradable than gasoline • Ethanol can be added to gasoline to make the need for gas less great and make gas ‘better’ for the environment

9. Where it is Being Used • It is used mostly in developing countries like India • It is also used in Finland, Sweden, and Austria because they have extremely forested areas • Places in the US like New Mexico Uses biomass a lot • There are ethanol plants in Texas, Nebraska, and Missouri • There are also other types of biomass plants in North Carolina and California • It is most likely to be used in more rural places than the US