More Biomass Info

Biomass
What is it: If you have ever burned wood then you have used a renewable source of energy known as biomass to produce heat. Biomass is defined as “organic material made from plants and animals.”

But energy does not exist is a vacuum, it comes from somewhere. On earth we get our energy from the suns rays. Plants absorb that energy through photosynthesis and animals chow down on plants (and sometimes other animals) to get energy as well.

So lets go back beside the fire for a moment. When you torch a log you are burning the suns stored energy and releasing it as heat and steam.

There are many other ways to gain access to stored energy in natural materials though. Below are some of the different types of technology.

Wood/Garbage waste
Biofuel
Biogas -Methane
Ethanol
Algae

Usually to get at the energy stored in biomass one of four processes must happen:
1. Burning
2. Alcohol Fermentation
3. Anaerobic Digestion
4. Pyrolysis
To learn more about each of these methods click here (http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/biomass/methods.html)

Advantages: There is a ton of biomass on the planet – think of all the trees that grown on our earth or all of the algae in the water. Another advantage is that in general biomass is a fairly cheap way to get energy (http://rhlx01.rz.fht-esslingen.de/projects/alt_energy/bio/ADVAN.HTML) though this is debatable. Also, it is a renewable resource if managed with sustainable practices. Some environmental benefits of biomass include: less waste being sent to landfills, no net gain in greenhouse gas emissions if plants reabsorb the output. A huge advantage of this source of energy is that it can be converted into different type of energy, not just one form from gases to heat energy (http://www.centreforenergy.com/silos/biomass/biomassOverview09.asp).

Disadvantages: Chemical reactions often have byproducts, which is just a fancy way of saying leftovers. In biomass reactions there is always waste left behind. Greenhouse gas emissions from directly burning biomass can contribute to further climate change. It can be expensive to produce if not harvesting from pre-existing sources and converting biomass to alcohol is an expensive process. (http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/biomass/advant.html).


Local Information:
http://news.mongabay.com/bioenergy/2008/03/cu-boulder-awarded-project-solar.html
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/07/17/celestial-seasonings-others-partner-with-boulder-on-biomass-study/
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/feb/24/boulder-county-host-meeting-proposed-biomass-sorti/?partner=RSS “The board on Tuesday approved a new set of regulations to allow the establishment of biomass yards in unincorporated Boulder County”
http://www.bouldercounty.org/foresthealth/pages/biomass_faq.htm - About Biomass collection sites.
http://huey.colorado.edu/LTER/datasets/streams/streambio/strmbims.html

The Obama Factor: Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will receive a huge boost in funding. The Biomass Program will receive a hefty $800 million dollars in funding.

The Biomass Program's vision is to creates, “a viable, sustainable domestic biomass industry that produces renewable biofuels, bioproducts and biopower, enhances U.S. energy security, reduces our dependence on oil, provides environmental benefits including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and creates economic opportunities across the nation.”

The stimulus sets aside this money for this program, but ethanol and biofuels will see little benefit from this huge chunk of change.

“The legislation extends the production tax credit (PTC) for biomass energy projects until the end of 2013 from 2010 and allows investors in projects placed into service by then to claim the investment tax credit (ITC) that, until now, had been reserved for the solar energy industry. In 2008, biomass facilities fueled with dedicated energy crops, as well as wind, solar and geothermal energy operations, received a $0.021/kWh PTC,” reported Bioenergy Business (https://www.bioenergy-business.com/index.cfm?section=lead&action=view&id=11861).

Additional Resources:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/biomass.html - an informative and basic description of biomass.
Information on Biomass lobbyist spending: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=US+Biomass+Power+Producers+Alliance&year=2008

Graphics/interactive ideas:
-Biomass quiz
- Interactive graphic or flash media that shows how photosynthesis works and how that energy is captured in biomass and made into usable energy for day-to-day human activities
- An activity where users could click on different types of biomass and learn about each and then select one to burn…..maybe this could work on a large scale for our whole project. We could have a graphic with different renewable energy sources and than have people match up pros and cons with each one or click on each one and see what happens….like the paper or plastic bag graphic…