Wednesday 9 November 2011

Vehicle can be run from waste products like dead trees municipal solid waste etc


Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms.As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as bio-fuel.
In the first sense, biomass is plant matter used to generate electricity with steam turbines & gasifiers or produce heat, usually by direct combustion. Examples include forest residues (such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps), yard clippings, wood chips and even municipal solid waste. In the second sense, biomass includes plant or animal matter that can be converted into fibers or other industrial chemicals, including biofuels. Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switch grass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil).

Biomass sources

Biomass is carbon, hydrogen and oxygen based. Biomass energy is derived from five distinct energy sources: garbage, wood, waste, landfill gases, and alcohol fuels. Wood energy is derived both from direct use of harvested wood as a fuel and from wood waste streams. The largest source of energy from wood is pulping liquor or “black liquor,” a waste product from processes of the pulp, paper and paperboard industry. Waste energy is the second-largest source of biomass energy. The main contributors of waste energy are municipal solid waste, manufacturing waste, and landfill gas. Biomass alcohol fuel, or ethanol, is derived primarily from sugarcane and corn. It can be used directly as a fuel or as an additive to gasoline.
Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy like methane gas or transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Rotting garbage, and agricultural and human waste, release methane gas - also called "landfill gas" or "biogas." Crops like corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce the transportation fuel, ethanol. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, can be produced from left-over food products like vegetable oils and animal fats. Also, Biomass to liquids and cellulosic ethanol are still under research.
The biomass used for electricity production ranges by region. Forest by products, such as wood residues, are popular in the United States. Agricultural waste is common in Mauritius (sugar cane residue) and Southeast Asia (rice husks). Animal husbandry residues, such as poultry litter, is popular in the UK.

Biomass conversion process to useful energy

There are a number of technological options available to make use of a wide variety of biomass types as a renewable energy source. Conversion technologies may release the energy directly, in the form of heat or electricity, or may convert it to another form, such as liquid biofuel or combustible biogas. While for some classes of biomass resource there may be a number of usage options, for others there may be only one appropriate technology.
Biomass for use in India: -
Today we are not using Biomass frequently in India but imagine if we start using Biomass then we can give electricity in every village, this can be a excellent motor vehicle alternative fuel. Everything we do in our day to day life is transformation of energy from one form to other.


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