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Overview of Bioenergy |
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Bioenergy is stored energy from the sun contained in materials such as plant matter and animal waste, known as biomass. Biomass is
plant matter and animal waste that can be harvested to create bioenergy in the form of electricity, heat, steam and fuels. Biomass is considered renewable because it is replenished
more quickly when compared to the millions of years required to replenish fossil fuels.
Bioenergy is one of the oldest energy sources. It all started when humans learned how to control fire to provide heat from the elements. Ancient
civilizations also used animal fats or vegetable oils for their lamps - this is an example of biofuels.
By definition, Bioenergy technologies use renewable resources to create energy such as electricity or fuels. According to the US Department
of Energy, bioenergy ranks second (to hydropower) in renewable U.S. primary energy production and accounts for 3% of the primary energy production in the United States.
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Biomass, simply, is material derived from recently living organisms. It includes dedicated
energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crops, agricultural crop wastes and residues, wood wastes and residues, aquatic plants, animal wastes, municipal wastes, and other
waste materials. The wide variety of biomass fuel sources includes algae; biogas made from anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste and animal waste; wood such as
pulp/paper mill residue, urban wood waste, and forest residue; and energy crops.
Biomass is grown from several plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass,
hemp, corn, poplar, willow and sugarcane
- Biofuel can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or derived from biomass. Biofuels
help meet transportation fuel needs. The most common types of biofuels are biodiesel; ethanol;
methanol; methane from landfills and animal waste; and hydrogen.
- Alternative fuels, as defined by the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), include ethanol, natural gas, propane,
hydrogen, biodiesel, electricity, methanol, and p-series fuels. These fuels are
being used worldwide in a variety of vehicle applications.
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Links to BioEnergy Resources |
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| Biomass as Feedstock for a BioEnergy and BioProducts Industry: a
Technical Feasibility of a Billion Ton Supply: information about biomass availability in the United States |
| Conversion Factors and Energy Potential of Woody Biomass: Biomass can be combusted directly to produce steam for electricity or it can be converted into a gas to power a turbine. It can also be converted into a fuel
oil substitute called bio-oil. Biomass power can be generated at stand-alone power plants, cogeneration power plants or in microgeneration applications. A biomass power or cogeneration
system typically consists of a combustor or a gasifier and a prime mover that uses steam from a boiler or combustible gas from a gasifier to produce heat and/or power. Installations range
in size from less than .75 MW electric capacity to over 50 MW. |
| Biomass Energy Resource Center: We are BERC,
the Biomass Energy Resource Center. Our home is in Montpelier, Vermont, and we work on projects around the country to install systems that use biomass fuel to produce heat and/or
electricity. Our partners in these projects have included schools, communities, colleges, businesses, utilities, and government agencies. |
| Biomass Energy Feasibility Studies: BERC has learned that the most cost-effective approach to studying the feasibility for a biomass energy project is to approach the study in stages. We advise
not spending too much time, effort, or money on a full feasibility study before discovering whether the potential project makes basic economic sense. So at the outset of considering a
project, BERC generally suggests undertaking a pre-feasibility study. This is a basic assessment, not yet at the engineering level, to determine the project's apparent cost-effectiveness.
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More More BioFuel or BioMass Links
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