Print this page Biomass Power Generation
Lee Layton, P.E.
Course Outline
Each of the major sources of biomass fuel feedstocks, agricultural residues, energy crops, forestry residues, and urban wood waste/mill residues, are covered in detail in Chapter one. Chapter two discusses the methods to process and convert biomass into electrical power. There are environmental consequences to using biomass for electric power generation and Chapter three discusses the environmental risks and benefits of using biomass power.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
After taking this course you should,
- Know what is meant by the term “biomass fuel”;
- Know the current use of biomass fuel for electric power generation;
- Understand how gasification works;
- Understand the costs associated with biomass fuels;
- Know the types of feedstocks available for biomass fuels;
- Know the benefits of biomass generated fuels;
- Understand the uncertainties associated with the biomass fuel supply;
- Understand the advantages of agricultural residue as a biomass fuel supply;,
- Know the methods to convert biomass into a usable fuel;
- Know the advantages of co-firing;
- Understand how anaerobic digestion works; and
- Understand the pyrolysis process.
Intended Audience
This course is intended for anyone who wants to know more about how biomass is being used to generate electrical power.
Benefit to Attendees
One of the largest renewable resource generating methods is the use of biomass material. This course will help you understand the potential sources for biomass generation and how the material can be converted into electrical power.
Course Introduction
Biomass energy is the energy from plants and plant derived materials and has been used since people began burning wood to cook food and keep warm. Wood is still the largest biomass energy resource today, but there are other sources of biomass. These include food crops, grassy and woody plants, residues from agriculture or forestry, oil-rich algae, and the organic component of municipal and industrial wastes. Even the methane from landfills can be used as a biomass energy source.
Bio-energy is renewable energy made from any organic material from plants or animals. Sources of bio-energy are called biomass, and include agricultural and forestry residues, municipal solid wastes, industrial wastes, and terrestrial and aquatic crops grown solely for energy purposes. Biomass is an attractive petroleum alternative because it is a renewable resource that is more evenly distributed over the Earth's surface than finite energy sources, and may be exploited using more environmentally friendly technologies. Today, biomass resources are used to generate electricity and power, and to produce liquid transportation fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel.
Biomass will continue to be the largest non-hydroelectric renewable technology for many years, growing from a capacity of about 6.7 gigawatts in 2000 to about 10.4 gigawatts by 2020, including dedicated biomass and industrial cogeneration. In comparison, wind capacity, which has a much lower utilization rate than biomass, is projected to grow from about 2.4 gigawatts in 2000 to 9.1 gigawatts in 2020.
In this course we look at the potential biomass fuel market in detail and discuss the conversion technologies to extract the energy of biomass into electrical energy. Finally, we look at the environmental issues associated with biomass energy.
Course Content
This course content is in the following PDF document:
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Course Summary
Biomass is a renewable resource that allows us to generate electricity from both waste products and purpose grown crops. If forecasted levels of biomass potential are going to be achieved, a variety of wood and agricultural biomass sources will be required to meet anticipated demand. And a supply of purpose-grown biomass sources will be needed as residuals alone will not be sufficient.
Because biomass technologies use combustion processes to produce electricity, they can generate electricity at any time, unlike wind and most solar technologies, which only produce when the wind is blowing or sun is shining. Biomass power plants are the second largest amount of renewable energy in the nation.
Energy production from biomass entails emissions during a variety of energy conversion processes, while avoiding the emissions associated with the production of a like amount of energy from fossil fuels. At the same time, disposal in biomass energy facilities avoids the environmental impacts associated with alternative disposal fates for the residues used as fuel, such as landfill burial or open burning.
One major problem with the biomass industry is that the supply chain just doesn’t exist. There is not a coherent market to collect, transport, and consume biomass material. The current biomass market is localized - and may always be - because of the cost of transporting biomass to a power plant. Storage is also an issue. Another issue is the quality of the biomass fuel itself varies widely.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
