Biomass and BiofuelsBy Kai Evans and Andrew Duran

Source• Biofuels can be manufactured from a wide range of materials including crop

waste, manure, and other byproducts.• Common sources include:

• Forestry crops & residue• Agricultural crops & residue• Animal residues• Industrial residues• Municipal solid waste• Sewage

Source

Efficiency and Cost• Using conventional combustion technology without cogeneration, the estimated

cost to generate electricity from biomass ranges from 5.2 to 6.7 cents per kilowatt-hour in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.• The estimated cost of generating electricity from a new natural gas-fired,

combined-cycle power plant is 2.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. • To refine biofuels to more efficient energy outputs, and to build the necessary

manufacturing plants to increase biofuel quantities, a high initial investment is often required so it is inefficient as of now until another way can be found to make the investment lower.

Necessary Equipment• Biomass machines can burn many types of organic material for steam and power.

The feedstock depends on what it will be best used for in the application, such as corn stove, distiller grains, animal bedding waste, manure, etc.• Biomass equipment can contain boilers and gasifiers. Boilers burn the various

biofuels. Stoker boilers for example can handle sludge and combined fuels. Improvements are made with computer fluid dynamic modeling, over fire air systems, bed burning and emission controls.

Consumption and Usage Data

Consumption and Usage Data• This statistic represents the projected value of the global biomass

manufacturing market between 2010 and 2015. In 2013, the global biomass manufacturing market is estimated to be worth around 642.6 billion U.S. dollars.

Consumption and Usage Data• This statistic represents the total consumption of biomass energy in the United

States between 2006 and 2014. In 2006, around 3,267 trillion British thermal units of energy derived from biomass were consumed here.

Consumption and Usage Data• This statistic represents the total consumption of biofuels in the United States

between 2006 and 2014. In 2012, 1.9 trillion British thermal units of renewable energy derived from biofuels were consumed in the U.S.

Consumption and Usage Data

Advantages• Cost: Biofuels have the potential to be significantly less expensive than gasoline and other fossil fuels. This is

particularly true as worldwide demand for oil increases, oil supplies dwindle, and more sources of biofuels become apparent.

• Source material: Whereas oil is a limited resource that comes from specific materials, biofuels can be manufactured from a wide range of materials including crop waste, manure, and other byproducts. This makes it an efficient step in recycling.

• Renewability: It takes a very long time for fossil fuels to be produced, but biofuels are much more easily renewable as new crops are grown and waste material is collected.

• Security: Biofuels can be produced locally, which decreases the nation's dependence upon foreign energy. By reducing dependence on foreign fuel sources, countries can protect the integrity of their energy resources and make them safe from outside influences.

• Economic stimulation: Because biofuels are produced locally, biofuel manufacturing plants can employ hundreds or thousands of workers, creating new jobs in rural areas. Biofuel production will also increase the demand for suitable biofuel crops, providing economic stimulation to the agriculture industry.

• Lower carbon emissions: When biofuels are burned, they produce significantly less carbon output and fewer toxins, making them a safer alternative to preserve atmospheric quality and lower air pollution.

Disadvantages• Energy output: Biofuels have a lower energy output than traditional fuels and therefore require greater quantities

to be consumed in order to produce the same energy level. This has led some noted energy analysts to believe that biofuels are not worth the work.

• Food shortage may become an issue with biofuel use.• Production carbon emissions: Several studies have been conducted to analyze the carbon footprint of biofuels, and

while they may be cleaner to burn, there are strong indications that the process to produce the fuel - including the machinery necessary to cultivate the crops and the plants to produce the fuel - has hefty carbon emissions.

• High cost: To refine biofuels to more efficient energy outputs, and to build the necessary manufacturing plants to increase biofuel quantities, a high initial investment is often required.

• Food prices: As demand for food crops such as corn grows for biofuel production, it could also raise prices for necessary staple food crops.

• Food shortages: There is concern that using valuable cropland to grow fuel crops could have an impact on the cost of food and could possibly lead to food shortages.

• Water use: Massive quantities of water are required for proper irrigation of biofuel crops as well as to manufacture the fuel, which could strain local and regional water resources.

Environmental Problems/Events/Potential Risks

• Burning biomass for energy emits large amounts of air pollution, and endangers human health• Biomass incinerators produce hundreds of tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile

organic compounds (VOCs) two ingredients of the ground-level ozone dangerous to human respiratory health and the environment. Biomass burning also produces tons of fine particulate matter (PM), a pollutant associated with asthma, heart disease, and cancer for which no safe level is known.• Use of biomass is not carbon neutral. It will dramatically increase greenhouse gases. • Biomass harvesting over-exploits forests and degrades their vital carbon

sequestration capacity • Biomass energy wastes water and pollutes rivers

Example of carbon risk