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biomass fuel

Read and learn more about biomass fuel. For more, visit the Renewable Energy website EnergySourceRenewable.org

Q: What are the costs and uses of biomass fuel?
Hi there,
I’d like to know more about biomass fuels. How does producing fuel from biomass affect the economy? Is it financially convenient for domestic use? And is this resource best used for domestic or industrial purposes?
Thanks in advance!

A: I can help you with this question, since I did a whole semester’s worth of environmental impacts of biomass.
Biomass can be in any form, such as wood chips, pellets, firewood, landfill gas, municipal and landfill waste, crop residues, livestock manure, sewage gas, and bio gas.
It can affect the economy in positive ways, because it can replace different energy forms such as propane, heating oil, electricity, or natural gas. With today’s technology, biomass can be converted into heat, electricity, and combined heat and power. In addition, there will be a large number of employment opportunities available when the biomass sector comes in: think of all the workers needed to bring in the agricultural wastes, forestry residues, or even build a collection plant for landfill gas.
Biomass can be collected from both agriculture and urban areas.
Biomass can be used for both domestic and industrial purposes. It is, however, best as an industrial use, since it can produce substantial amounts of energy to be used by homes and cities. It can replace fossil fuels, and can allow a city to be independent from other sources of energy, using biomass to power its city. The city could even sell some surplus to the grid. The only issue is if the city has a large amount of biomass waste available to be able to power a city year-round.
For domestic purposes, it can be done, but there are some drawbacks to it. First, where will all the biomass be stored? (there needs to be a substantial amount of space available to store the biomass); second, there needs to be some sort of ventillation system in place if you are burning wood in your home, and (third) relates to the second, whereby the stove, wood burner, etc. that will be burning the wood or waste has to comply to any clean air regulations or acts in the city/country. Although it will save you money in the long run, there are start-up costs associated with the equipment, and the ongoing care of the equipment. Farmers who have their own farm and animals can surely use waste produced from field and animals to power and generate electricity on their farm.
I have placed a link at the bottom with an article that i’m sure would be of good use to you. Just search for “Biomass” in the PDF file and it will take you right to the information.

Q: Wood Pellets Fuel – Where Can I Learn More About The Commercial Use Of Biomass Pellets?
I’m looking for an authority site or guide on wood pellets fuel. I’m specially interested in companies that have perfected the art of deriving fuel from biomass pellets, so I can use the same knowledge to generate my own alternative fuel.

A: Try the Biomass Pellet Production site. It provides detailed information on how wood and biomass pellets are produced at the PelHeat factory in UK. It details the equipment used and facts on how commercial-quality pellets can be made for generating cheap alternative fuel. Hope this helps.

Q: What should I name a Car that I make using the words biomass fuel, nuclear fusion, geothermal energy & tidal?

A: the thermal biofusion wave

Q: How does a biomass power plant get fuel year round?
Please provide sources. Please provide any sites about biomass power. How does a biomass power plant get the fuel it needs year round if it needs plant matter, and farms only harvest once, maybe twice, a year?

A: We burn tree bark in a biomass boiler. Trees are harvested year around by a paper mill. The bark is removed by a debarking drum and a conveyor takes the bark to a bark dryer, then to a surge bin where it is stored and fed by screw conveyors into the boiler. In addition waste paper and cardboard are run through a pelletizer. The waste paper(and cardboard) is shredded, compressed and extruded through dies where it comes out looking a little bigger around than a cigar. These cigar pieces are burned. We run it year around.

Q: What are the titles of some good scientific papers on woody biomass for fuel?
I need information about burning wood for fuel. This can be anything from pellets to wood chip system. Please include at least the title of the paper and the author in your answer.

A: http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/reports/fuelwood/toc.html

Try this website…

Q: why doesn’t everyone used biomass fuel, if it’s cheap and good for the enviroment?
Do you need a special car or something?

A: Not so much a new car, but the engine would need to be specifically designed to use it. The problem is that using fuels based on things like grain will cause food shortages and higher costs of living as demand for grain to make more and more fuel increases. Sadly, our economic setup isn’t geared up for it. It would be great if everyone drove a biofuel car, but if we did, none of us would be able to afford a loaf of bread!

Q: Can someone explain to me the process of converting biomass to gas/liquid fuel?
I am doing homework and I need help with the process of converting biomass to gas/liquid fuel. I am a 6th grader…help me please.

Thanks in advance~

A: In general terms, this involves heating the material to obtain volatile and flammable gases and/or vapors. Many years ago methanol (“wood alcohol”) was obtained by heating wood.

Q: What is the difference between biomass and microbial fuel cells?
We are working on a science project and we can’t find the difference.

A: Biomass is big stuff that burns. Wood waste from lumber and paper production, urban tree trimming, brush removal, paper that can not be recycled, straw or corn stalks from farming…anything that will burn.

Microbial fuels is fuel from bacteria, algae, and other microscopic organisms that can be burned themselves, or their by-products (alcohol) burned.

Microscopic organisms can out-produce higher plants in terms of mass produced from a given quantity of soil/water/air.

Q: Which of the following is not a biomass fuel?
a. methane.
b. gasohol.
c. hydrogen.
d. sugar-cane wastes.
e. these are all biomass fuels

A: e. these are all biomass fuels

[here's a link showing that hydrogen is as well http://www.bst.bio.dtu.dk/English/research/Biofuels.aspx]

Q: Is biomass considered a fossil fuel?
That being said, is bioGAS a fossil fuel?
What’s the difference between biomass and biogas :/

A: No, biomass is not a fossil fuel.
Difference between biomass and biogas is that biomass is the ingredient or source from which we can get energy like biogas. That means one is source and another is end product.

Biogas is often produced from manure and organic waste products ( collectively called biomass) from the farming industry.

Q: fossil fuel and biomass fuel question?
what are disalike and alike about fossil fuels and biomass fuels?

A: When burned, biomass fuels only release the carbon that they already absorbed from the air, so the net carbon balance is zero. Fossil-based fuels add more carbon to the air when they’re burned.

Q: What plants might be grown, just for Biomass power plant fuel?

A: Corn is often thrown around, but is too unfeasible (takes as much energy to make it as you get burning it).

Sugar Cane is used successfully in Brazil, making them almost energy independent.

Switchgrass has been shown to be better than Sugar Cane and can be grown domestically in the USA.

Algae is even better than switchgrass and research is going on for that.

All of these have the problem that the cellulose cracking enzymes are expensive and tend to break down.

Q: what is the name of a biomass fuel derived from sewage sludge?

A: There are two alternative ways for making use of sewage sludge as fuels, namely, “Digestion Method (to make methane gas)”, another is “Carbonization Method (to make carbonized solid fuel)”.

Q: How does Biomass Fuel work?
Well…. I’ve a big project about Biomass Energy , I’ve to write How does Biomass Fuel work . I just finished it , but I don’t know I wrote it wrong or right , can you guys check it for me? Thanks ALotttt , my life will savee.
Step 1: Wasted wood and other sources are fed into furnace , where it’s burn.
Step 2: The heat created and used to boil water.
Step 3: The energy from the steam used to whirl turbines and generator.
Step 4: Energy created and become electricity then go to the powerline.
Thanks alotttt , I hope this project will help me bring up my grade T_T

A: You are really very basic but “on the right lines”. I wouldn’t say what you wrote here corresponds to a “big” project and if “big” is what your examiners are looking for, then this won’t do much for your grades. But, on the bright side – it’s not actually wrong! If the question had been “how does swimming work?” your answer corresponds to 1. get in water. 2. wave arms. 3 move forward.

Using biomass fuel can run into lots of difficulties depending what the biomass is. It may not burn very well and may have first to be mixed with other fuel. Again it may cause corrosion or erosion of boiler tubes requiring dilution or other measures to mitigate. These factors have to be checked for every consignment and any changes in biomass being supplied under a contract must be carefully monitored to avoid trouble before it happens. Sent and received wieghts, quality and moisture / junk (e.g. stones) content have to be carefully checked for each shipment to avoid theft and boiler damage. Biomass is pretty big business!

Q: why does burning a renewable biomass fuel, such as wood, not add to the greenhouse effect??????

A: This relies on the renewable nature of the biomass. As you have correctly noted, burning the biomass releases CO2 which would add to the greenhouse effect.

But the point is that you then renew the biomass by growing some more of it, and growing the second lot of biomass absorbs the CO2 released by burning the first lot. So then you burn the second lot and then grow a third lot, ans so on.

The same amount of CO2 is being continually released and the re-absorbed, so there is no net addition to the greenhouse effect.

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