Biomass Energy and Resources

POBRE, Don Gabriel; TOLENTINO, Troy Giuseppe

EgyE 201: Energy Resources, Uses, and Systems

I. Specifications and Samples

Biomass Energy has been around ever since fire was discovered by the Homo erectus about
400,000 years ago. Back then, Biomass has been used as a source of heat and for cooking food.
However, it was only in the 1970s that Biomass was energy coming from organic materials
been formalized. (Biomass.net, 2017) Back then, only materials that were traded were
registered and accounted for despite the use of biomass for heating homes especially in
temperate countries. Today, the World Bank reports that about 13% of the world's energy
production comes from biomass resources. (Dahlquist and Bundschuh, 2013). Biomass is
defined as biological material derived from living or recently living plants that is used as a
source of energy. (Lestander, 2012) While this definition is valid, it only gives a vague idea on
how vast Biomass Resources are. In fact, there is a total of 104.9 Petagrams of Carbon
equivalent estimated to be found in the biosphere, with 48.5 Pg from the ocean and 56.4Pg from
land. (Field et al, 1998) Because of this vastness of resources, a definition that would highlight
the vastness of the resource would be given by Holm-Nielsen (2016): Biomass are
biodegradable products, wastes, and residues of biological origin from agriculture, forestry
and aquaculture.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2006 set Qualifications for
Renewable Biomass. These qualifications, shown in Figure 1, are set to identify energy
resources that are sustainable, do not endanger food security, habitats or soil conservation.
(Lestander, 2012)
 Figure 1 Criteria for Renewable Biomass

To summarize figure 1, in order to be qualified as a renewable biomass resource, the land area
must remain a forest, cropland and/or grassland such that sustainable practices are undertaken
to ensure that the carbon stocks do not decrease over time. It must be noted that the carbon
stocks may decrease in time due to harvesting. Nevertheless, any forestry, agriculture and nature
conservation regulation, may it be local, regional or national must be complied with.
(UNFCCC, 2016) Unregulated use or over-extracting biomass resources may lead to the
tragedy of the commons wherein ultimately, the demand would overwhelm the supply of
resources leading to the unavailability of these resources for all. In addition to this, the decrease
of carbon pools can be attributed with the decrease wood, litter or soil organic carbon, on where
the biomass residues originate. (UNFCCC, 2016)

With the definition and criteria to be considered as renewable biomass resource, fitting
classifications of biomass resources can be made. Because of the different properties of biomass
resources, there are a variety of classifications available in various literature. Among these
would be according to origin, nature or energy application. (Further reading, Ciria, P. and
Barro, R., Biomass resource assessment, Biomass Supply Chains for Bioenergy and
Biorefining, Woodhead Publishing, 2016) However, for the sake of brevity and contextualizing
the classification for resource extraction, classification according to origin from Sims et al
(2007) shall be discussed in this report as shown in the figure below:
 Figure 2 Biomass Classification According to Origin (Sims et al, 2007)

Biomass resources can be classified into woodfuels, agrofuels, and municipal by-products. The
basis for classification is according to the source or origin of the resource, which have different
characteristics, extraction and handling process and conversion technologies. These will be
discussed in the latter part of this report. Figure 2 shows the weight of each resource
classification based on the amount of resources used in the world in 2007, as shown by Sims et
al, 2007. These are described as follows:

1. Woodfuels
These are comprised of resources from trees and shrubs in forests and nonforests, as
well as recovered wood products from previous years. These comprise 39.0 EJ of the
global resources. These woodfuels are used as fuel wood, for charcoal making and
black-liquor making for different energy applications. Traditional solid woodfuels are
used for heating buildings, especially in temperate countries.

2. Agrofuels
These are comprised of resources from agriculture such as animal by-products (oils,
fats and manure), agricultural by-products (rice straw, rice husk, sugarcane bagasse)
and fuel crops (sweet sorghum, corn, sugarcane, switchgrass). These comprise 4.2 EJ
of the global resources, which are segmented into 1.5 EJ, 1.6 EJ and 1.1 EJ for animal
by-products, agricultural by-products, and fuel crops, respectively. These are converted
into energy by thermochemical processes, biochemical processes or chemical
processes.
 3. Municipal By-products
These are comprised of municipal solids wastes, industrial wastes and landfill gases. It
is has the smallest share of biomass resources, with 1.4 EJ of energy equivalent for both
solid municipal biomass and landfill gasses. Like agrofuels, these are converted into
energy by thermochemical processes, biochemical processes or chemical processes.

In a chemical perspective, the common property of biomass resources is the presence

of hydrocarbon bonds, wherein energy is stored through chemical bonds. The formation of
these bonds are formed through photosynthesis to produce simple sugars, which in turn are
primary precursors of all organic components in biomass. (Klass, 1998)

Figure 3 Image Representation of Photosynthesis (retrieved from https://www.myhouseplants.com/wp-

content/uploads/2016/02/photosynthesis-intro-900.jpg)
 Figure 4 Photosynthesis Chemical Reaction (retrieved from
http://www3.syngenta.com/country/uk/SiteCollectionImages/LearningZone/KS345_new/Chemistry/ISE/photo1.png)

Figure 3 and 4 show a schematic diagram of photosynthesis and the chemical reaction
of photosynthesis, respectively. Photosynthesis is a "natural carbon capture" mechanism where
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is converted into carbohydrates which may be in the form
of simple sugars (glucose, fructose, etc.) to complex sugars (cellulose, hemicellulose and
starch) with oxygen as a product which is consumed by cellular respiration. It is also a bridge
between inorganic compounds (carbon dioxide and water) to organic compounds (glucose).
Biomass is composed of complex structural carbohydrates of the plant cell wall:

Figure 5 Components of Biomass (Poletto et al)

The major component of a plant cell walls are lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose.
Dashtban (2010) characterizes these. Lignin, which is the outermost layer of the plant cell wall,
is a heterogenous polymer composed of 3 precursor aromatic alcohols. The arrangement of
these alcohols vary from plant source, which means that the composition of lignin differs per
plant as well. Since lignin is the outermost layer of the cell wall, it resists degradation the most,
since it protects the hemicellulose and cellulose inner layers from exposure to the environment.
Although lignin is the most resistant to degradation, there are organisms that produce enzyme
which can break down lignin, such as ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, and white-rot.
Hemicellulose, the next layer, on the other hand, is mainly composed of five-carbon sugars, or
pentoses, such as xylose and arabinose; as well as six-carbon sugars such as glucose. As with
lignin, the composition of these sugars vary per plant type as well. Lastly, cellulose, the
innermost layer, is a linear bipolymer making it the weakest layer among the three, even if it is
crystalline in structure. Majority of the monomers in cellulose are glucose connected by beta-
1,4-glycosidic bonds. These account for bulk of the energy content of the biomass. Non-
uniformity of the proportions of structural carbohydrates make it necessary to convert to
standardized solid, liquid or gaseous fuels.

Photosynthesis products are the keys to biomass resources with desirable properties via
cellular metabolism and polymerization reactions to form key structural polymers:

1. Cellulose and hemicellulose formation involve successive condensations of

monosaccharides, particularly hexoses (C6) to yield celluloses and starches, and pentoses
(C5) to yield hemicelluloses. Glucose is produced mainly via photosynthesis but C3, C4
and C5 sugars are produced as shunted from the glucose metabolic pathway.

2. Lignin precursors involve a series of condensation reactions from glucose to C9 compounds

such as p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid. The structure of lignins can be complex and there
are a variety of biochemical pathways proposed for the formation of lignin from sugars and
amino acids. (Klass, 1998)

3. Proteins are produced from amino acids. Nitrogen sources in the form of ambient nitrogen,
ammonia, urea, or ammonium salts, are relevant in the biosynthesis of these amino acids.
(Klass,1998)

4. Triglycerides are formed from glycolysis products (acetyl coenzyme A). (Klass,1998)

Given the genetic diversity that arise different properties of different species, biomass resources
become abundant in varying compositions, especially of lignin, hemicellulose, cellulose,
extractives and ash. With that said, there are ideal properties of biomass that arise for energy
production. The following are the ideal properties of solid fuel biofuel according to the ISO
16559:2014 "Solid biofuels - Terminology, definitions and descriptions" along with current
problems that real biomass resources bring about:

Be well identified and have desirable characteristics in terms of its physical and
chemical characteristics (moisture content, lignin, holocellulose, etc.) Biomass must
be homogeneous in terms of moisture, shape, size and composition. It also must not
have any metallic impurities and undesirable materials (such as potentially harmful
elements such as N, Cl, Na, and K) and have high energy density and low water, ash
and heavy metal composition.

o In reality, biofuels are heterogeneous in nature, and size reduction must be

made to homogenize composition and other physical properties. They have
high moisture content so drying must be made to lower the moisture content.
It has low energy to weight ratio so biomass is densified by pelleting,
briquetting, or any other industrial process.

Can be handled easily and be introduced into conventional feeding systems

automatically. It should exhibits proper behavior in current conversion or utilization
schemes (fouling, sintering, etc.)

o In reality, impurities cannot be avoided, especially when handling is not made

well. Different farming practices bring about different kinds of impurities and
the soil geology plays a big role.

Be produced and available in large amounts per surface unit to ensure a continuous
supply sustainably to minimize environmental impacts, and be sold at an
economically stable price.

o In reality, energy crops are employed to minimize the problem of a low spatial
density and distribution over relatively large areas with small scale production.
Seasonal production only -- however there are perennial crops. When biomass
residues have alternative uses, the prices are highly dependent on the
availability.
 Given these properties, a critical parameter arises based on the structure of biomass resources.
(Lestander, 2012) The most important characteristic of a biofuel is its energy content. Energy
value or heating value is defined as the amount of heat released per unit mass during complete
combustion. These are related to the energy released during combustion from covalent bonds
from Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulfur bonds, which are measured in terms of
energy per mass (e.g. kJ/g or MJ/kg)

The order of energy stored in bonds are given as follows: O-H < C-O < C=O < N-H <
C-N < C-C < C-H < S-H < C=C

As an example, consider the Calorific Value of Three Major Components of

Wood (Dry Weight Basis) retrived from Eberson (1969)
(https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/meetings/download/pdf/2013am/
79280)

Table 1 Calorific Value of Three Major Components of Wood (DWB)

Component Gross Calorific Value (Cal/g)

Lignin 5569-6405

Cellulose 4183-4661

Extractives 7720-9417

Table 1 shows that extractives have the greatest gross calorific value these comprise of high density
polymers present in fats and oils. However, considering Table 2 lifted from Gronli (2002):

Table 2 Chemical Composition of Sawdust Samples of Specific Wood Species

Wood species Holocellulose (%) Lignin (%) Extractives (%) Ash (%)

P. Taeda 61.20.2 25.60.1 9.30.7 3.90.3

E. grandis 64.40.3 27.60.7 4.20.2 3.70.2

Further reading: (Gronli, 2002) Gronli MG, Vrhegyi G and Di Blasi C. Thermogravimetric analysis
and Devolatilization kinetics of wood. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. 2002;
41(17):4201-4208.)

Although extractives have the highest calorific value, holocellulose (cellulose and hemicellulose) still
have the biggest percentage that compose woody biomass (or biomass, in general) Hence, there is an
optimum biomass feedstock with the right amount of holocellulose, lignin and extractives. How much
energy that can be obtained in a specific area becomes important, and there are still some constraints
such as how fast a resource grows, what are some utilities needed to utilize these resources. How fast
can an energy crop grow, and what nutrients are needed and how much water does it need to grow?

II. Estimates and Location

World
Figure 6 shows that a significant percentage of the worlds lands are used for agricultural applications,
alongside forests. This means that biomass resources are very abundant in nature, as agricultural crops,
residues, and woodchips from trees from forest may be used for agricultural applications.

Figure 6 World Land Distribution for Biomass Resources (FAOSTAT, 2010)

However, Figure 7 shows that although the land distribution in the world presents significant numbers
for utilization, majority of these forest are protected by law and conserved. Another issue that is brought
about that different continents have different distribution of land applications. For Asia, the land is
predominantly agricultural, while for Europe, the land is predominantly forests. Hence, there must be
nuances that must be made depending on the predominant biomass resources present in the area.
 Figure 7 Forest Area Applications (FAOSTAT, 2010)

Figure 8 Global Distribution of Potential Biomass Resources (Beringer et al, 2011)

The figure above shows that biomass resources are cultivated mostly for food production and for
industrialization (construction, and use of land for urbanization). There is then a food vs. fuel
phenomenon that is brought about. Would food be produced or fuel? While this is an emerging problem,
it must be noted that most of the energy consumption of the world today is from woodfuels, as shown
in the next figure.
 Figure 9 Energy Segmentation by Biomass Resource Classification (Sims et al., 2007)

By 2050, energy demand for bioenergy is expected to double or quadruple, and basing on the total
arable land that the world can still host, with the number of research and development being done to
improve crop yields, the future for biomass resources remain hopeful.

Regional
As mentioned in the previous sections, Asia has a wide land use for agricultural applications. The
succeeding figures show that the biomass waste potential of the crops used for food production in the
Southeast Asian region present a large potential to supply a substantial percentage of fossil fuel
consumption, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines. With the crops that each country specialize
in, the production of these crops also present different opportunities for energy production such as from
sugarcane, rice and palm oil. Since Asia is also known for its high population, municipal waste from
cities present different opportunities for landfill gas production from consumer goods. The succeeding
figures were directly lifted from Zafar and Dahlen (2009).
Local
Local production of agricultural crops are the basis of estimating biomass resources in the Philippines.
For Bioethanol and Biodiesel production, the Department of Energy cites that Sugarcane bagasse and
molasses are the biggest contributors for bioethanol production with about 220 million liters per year
produced and coconut husks for biodiesel production for about 600 million liters per year produced.
The figure below shows the production of each agricultural crop possible for biomass energy
production:
 Figure 10 Volume of Production of Agricultural Crops in '000 MT from 2010 to 2015

Sugarcane bagasse remains the largest source of biomass in the Philippines, by virtue of the market
created by the Biofuels Act of 2008 and based on the sugarcane production in Figure 6 and the amount
of residue that can be obtained per million ton of sugarcane, as shown in Figure 7. Utilization of these
resources are expected to increase as the law mandates that 20% of the fuel in the Philippines is blended
with bioethanol.

Figure 11 Biomass Resources and Residues Associated (Dalusung, 2012)

 Figure 12 Bioethanol Production in the Philippines (Source: PSA)

III. Resource Assessment

Biomass Resource is defined as any material of biological origin excluding material embedded
in geological formations and/or fossilized. This includes the lignocellulosic materials such as residues
from agriculture, forest, agroforestry industry, agrifood and livestock. Some portion of household and
municipal wastes are also included.

Energy Biomass resources can be categorized as follows:

Potential resources: These are the already existing biomass resources that could be
collected and are already being used without considering the possibility of real exploitation.

Available resources: All the potential biomass resources, excluding the ones which are
already being used and those that cannot be used due to environmental, techno-economic,
or property reasons.

Resources technically ready to use/collect: This category includes the available biomass
resources that can be used and collected from a technical perspective, making use of the
existing techniques.

Resources economically ready to use/collect: Resources technically ready to use/collect,

taking into account that their collection and transport is economically viable.
Evaluation Methods

There are lots of methods used in assessing biomass resource depending on its type and
availability of information. Since its sources and types are greatly variable, no single method can be
generally implemented. Factors like type of biomass, geographic scope, accuracy needed, accessibility
etc. should be considered for selecting proper information source. It should be taken into account that
the information needed might not always be electronically available.

Some biomass residues, like agriculture by-products, depend on the annual harvest of the total
biomass product. For instance, the amount of biomass residues from rice farms are dependent on the
annual harvest of farmers whether its twice or thrice a year recorded by our government. However,
forest biomass evaluations are based on date provided by forest inventories.

Geospatial Technologies

Geospatial Technologies have been used by the National Mapping and Resource Information
Authority (NAMRIA), an agency of the government under DENR. It is responsible for providing
geospatial services and acting as the central mapping agency, depository, and distribution facility of
natural resources data in the form of maps, charts, texts, and statistics. These include remote sensing
(RS), geographic information systems (GIS), and global positioning systems (GPS). Remotely sensed
images, such as aerial and satellite images, provide an efficient and reliable way to monitor biomass
resources over time. RS is the only technique available to monitor biomass resources and analyze its
land use and land cover change at local, regional and global scales, including those areas that are remote
and poorly accessible, and is used to estimate growing stock of biomass and forecast its productivity.

Data derived from remote sensing images, such as land use/cover, elevation, and surface
temperature, is further used in geographic information systems (GIS). GIS is a computer-based
information system used to create, manipulate, analyze, and visualize geographically referenced
information and is a powerful tool for assessing biomass potential. It is also used in estimating technical
biomass resource potential by integrating various datasets such as crop/forest production statistics, land
use, terrain, transportation infrastructure, and protected areas. It also can identify areas where the agro-
climatic conditions are suitable for growing a particular crop or assess biomass resources available
within a certain radius from a processing facility.
Surveys

Field surveys are used to collect data as part of site-specific appraisals. The results are further
generalized over a larger area and used to develop equations that predict biomass availability. This
sampling technique provides the most accurate estimate of biomass resources at a given location;
however, it is not practical for broad scale inventory-- time-consuming and labor-intensive. Currently,
field surveys in biomass resource assessments are used when other methods prove insufficient or when
capabilities to use other methods dont exist.

Another way of collecting field data is sending questionnaires to farmers and cooperatives and
asking them to report information such as harvested yield, harvesting methods, and water management
(irrigation or no irrigation). But this method of collecting field data relies on voluntary participation,
creating a potential for informational gaps and is also time-consuming process.

Modeling

Models are simplified set of data designed to illustrate a system or process using mathematical
techniques that describe the status of resource to facilitate calculation and predictions. The technique is
dependent on the needs of assessment and availability of data. It can be as simple as measuring the data
using statistical methods or as broad as balancing numerous processes to derive resource characteristics.

Both, static (analytical) and dynamic (simulation) models are used in biomass resource
assessments. Static models describe a system mathematically, in terms of equations, and can be built in
a spreadsheet. An example is estimating the amount and cost of crop residues by specifying values for
several variables such as crop production, residue generation, labor cost, and prices. Dynamic models
on the other hand, studies to examine the effect of land use change, market price, and policy measures
on feedstock supply. When combined with optimization algorithms, simulations can indicate what
policy choices or other decisions may lead to particular desired outcomes.

Data Availability

The Biomass Energy Laboratory at University of the Philippines at Los Baos (UPLB) has been
compiling biomass resource data since its establishment in 1997. The laboratory was established by the
Department of Energy, Non-Conventional Energy Division, and biomass resource assessment is one of
its major tasks. A list of other agencies providing data and expertise related to agriculture and forestry
is provided below:
 The Department of Agriculture (DA) provides expertise and statistics on agricultural
production and trade

The Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) provides forestry expertise and annual statistics (since 1990) by region and
province; data is collected through sample field survey

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Council for Agriculture, Forestry and
Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) and Forest Products Research and
Development Institute (FPRDI)

The National Statistics Office (NSO) provides an accurate estimate of the acreage of the major
commodities at a municipal level; data is collected through sample paper surveys

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) provides annual production data for major
commodities; data is collected through sample paper surveys

The National Food Authority (NFA) updates data on rice mills and their capacities

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reports sugar cane production and wastes data
including operational sugar mills

The United Coconut Association of the Philippines provides annual data on coconut production,
coconut oil mills, and oil trade.

IV. Exploration, Extraction, Transportation, Handling, Storage, etc.

Biomass encompasses a variety of biological materials with distinctive physical and chemical
characteristics, such as woody materials, energy crops, crop residues, and animal wastes. Harvested
biomass could be converted to various forms of energy by numerous technical processes, depending
on the raw material characteristics and the type of energy desired. This section will only cover some
representative samples based on the classification of biomass resources:

Woody Biomass

According to the US Forest Service, all trees and woody plants are considered to be woody
biomass practically including logging slash, limbs, tops, needles, leaves, small-diameter trees, and
other trees that cannot be sold as higher value products. Many biomass harvesting guidelines have been
developed for the collection of woody biomasslike coarse woody debris and fine woody debris.

Operation

Timber harvesting can be broken down into five steps: felling, extraction, processing, loading,
and trucking. First the trees are severed from the stump and brought to the ground. When they are pulled
from the forest area to a landing or roadside, the process is called extraction. At the handling site, the
trees may be processed, including topping and debranching the tree crown and the branches and cross-
cutting the stem into logs. Then the products are sorted, stacked, loaded onto logging trucks, and
delivered to biomass-using facilities. Different equipment used depending on how the resource are
being extracted.

Harvesting Equipment

Figure 13 Feller buncher, retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Buncher12.jpg.

Feller Buncher is used in order to harvest the whole tree, this process is called felling. In this process,
the feller buncher fells the tree then will be delivered in the log landing. It harvests roundwood and
biomass simultaneously and is considered to be the most cost-effective way. Feller bunchers are able to
be operated on wet and loose soil and are more stable on steep slopes.
 Figure 14 Morgan SX-704 grapple skidder, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Skidderdualfunction.jpg

Skidders are used to pick up logs after being felled by feller buncher. This equipment will
deliver woody biomass to the wood storage or near landing and will be collected for transportation.
This process is called skidding.

Figure 15 Europe Chippers woodchipper, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_Chippers_1.jpg,

In a biomass size reduction process, chippers, tub grinders, or shedders are used to comminute raw
materials, generating chunks, chips, and powders. If barks, needles, leaves, and other debris are removed
before or during the comminution process, it yields clean chips that tend to be uniform in size and are
desired products for end users like the pulping and paper industry.
A small-scale timber harvesting system may be more suitable to collect woody biomass, while
conventional equipment harvests and collects products such as pulpwood and sawlogs.

Corn Stover

Crop residues and herbaceous biomass have been studied and are considered to have a great
potential as a biofuel feedstock once second-generation cellulosic conversion technologies are
commercialized. Corn stover from existing corn production is by far the most abundant crop residue
readily available.

Operation

To meet stover harvesting requirements, conventional multipass forage harvest systems are
playing the main roll. ). Stovers were packed as high density and large bales and temporarily stored at
the field edge until being transported to covered feedstock storage or the biorefinery. Two operations
are being used: The two-field pass where corn grain harvester-windrower is followed by baler, and the
single-pass or one-pass combined stream harvesting system which gives several advantages-- (1)
enables an early harvest, which is suitable to northern regions with a short growing season and creates
a window for growing cover crops; (2) improves harvest efficiency by capturing more biomass; and (3)
reduces harvest costs by 26% compared to traditional separate grain and stover harvesting.

Harvesting Equipment

Figure 16 John Deere 9870 STS combine harvester with a 625D Draper head. (Left) and Claas Lexion 570 combine
harvester. (Right) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Claas-lexion-570-1.jpg

Crops including corn, wheat, oats, rice, etc. are often harvested with a combine harvester, which is
considered to be one of the most economically important labor-saving inventions. The combine
harvester, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from its combining three separate
operations harvesting-reaping, threshing, and winnowing into a single process. The waste straw left
behind on the field is the remaining dried stems and leaves of the crop with limited nutrients, which are
either chopped and spread on the field or baled for feed and bedding for livestock.

Figure 17 A self-propelled Claas Jaguar 890 forage harvester, retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forage_harvester#/media/File:Chopping_Grass_for_Silage_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1343401.jpg

Another type of commercial harvester is the forage harvester (also known as silage harvester,
forager, or chopper), which is typically used in the harvest of hay and forage crops as well as for some
small-scale corn stover collection to make silage. Silage is chopped grass, corn, or other plants that have
been compacted together in the storage silo, bunker, or bags. The silage is then fermented to make feed
for livestock. Haylage is a similar process to silage but using dried grass. Forage harvesters can be either
attached to a tractor or self-propelled machines

Sugarcane
This crop is grown for the production of sugar, which is considered to be one of the major
strategic commodities. Since the 1970s, the sugarcane industry has been moving toward sugar and
energy production with the development of cogeneration and bioethanol technologies.

Operation
Previously, the common practice has been a preharvest open-burning followed by the manual
sugarcane harvest, and this strategy is still being used in some countries. Burning sugarcane leaves
enables manual pickers to collect the crop quickly, suffering less personal injury. The burning process,
however, has negative impacts on the environment, human health, and the potential energy value of the
plant. On the other hand, mechanization eliminates the need for burning, speeding up the collection
process, eliminating harmful emissions from smoke, and reducing crop wastage, thus increasing
productivity in terms of energy generation.
Harvesting Equipment

Figure 18 John Deere 3520 sugarcane harvesters and 2254 loaders

Whole stalk and chopper harvesters are currently used for the mechanical harvesting of
sugarcane. Self-propelled whole stalk harvesters base cut and top one or two rows of cane and deposit
whole sticks of cane from four to six rows into a single windrow using a flexible piling arm. After
windrowing, the canes are bundled and mechanically loaded onto trucks or trails using high-capacity
picking-up/garbing loaders, such as the 2254 John Deere loader. Following whole stalk harvesting,
detrashing with mechanical equipment results in additional costs. However, whole stalk harvester
cannot handle bent or lodged canes well.

Biomass Storage Methods

Biomass Storage has an essential link to biomass supply chain. Most types of biomass are characterized
by seasonal availability as they are harvested at a specific time period of the year and varies on its
availability and demand. Therefore, it is necessary to store the feedstock. Different storage methods is
suitable for a certain types of biomass and has its own advantages and disadvantages, environmentally
and economically. The suitable options depends on several factors to be considered:

the type of biomass;

the form in which biomass is processed (eg, shape, size);
the average and maximum quantity of biomass required in storage;
the regional prevailing weather conditions;
the expected duration of storage;
the end use of the biomass;
the transportation distances;
 the location of storage;
the availability of resources, such as capital, space, and existing infrastructure.

Open- Air Storage

Figure 19 Open-air storage without protection.(Left) and Open-air storage in the field with partial protection from rain and
snow. (Right) From Biomass Magazine The Profitable Farming Company.

This form of storage is the lowest cost option and therefore it is widely used in practice as well
as in biomass supply chain modeling in the relevant literature. In some cases, especially when the
material is in baled form, some protection from the weather elements might be provided by covering
with a tarpaulin or other plastic foils. Since biomass is exposed for a significant amount of time, this
form of storage has the highest material loss and quality degradation values, although in some cases it
is used to allow initial drying of biomass after harvesting. An example of this is the case of forest
biomass, where logs are left for a period of time to reduce their moisture.

Covered With Climate Control

Figure 20 Covered storage without climate control From Mapri.

Several types of biomass covering are used in order to reduce the negative effects of weather
on biomass dry matter loss and quality. Variations of this type of storage include plastic wrapping of
bales, covering biomass with tarps, or even storing biomass under roofed open storage areas. This type
of storage offers better protection from rain and snow but not much protection from wind and other
factors that may affect dry matter loss and quality. Covered facilities with walls are more and expensive
but offer better protection from the weather elements.

Ensilage

Figure 21 Ensilages in Bags IpesaSilo.

Ensilage of biomass is suitable for wet storage of high-moisture biomass, which leads to
anaerobic digestion by bacteria that ferment sugars to produce lactic acid. However, it does not allow
for a reduction of moisture, which is an undesirable characteristic in most bioenergy applications.
Covered With Climate Control

Figure 22 Covered storage with the potential for climate control. From Rubb Building Systems.

This is one of the most expensive options, having the advantage of minimizing the material loss
and allowing for control of the biomass moisture levels. These constructions may even have drying
capability, especially when they are located adjacent to a bioenergy facility, where it could be possible
to use waste heat from the facility to dry biomass.

Steel or concrete bins and silos

Figure 23 Silo used for pellet storage. From G.E. Silos Pty Ltd.

In some cases, such as with pellets or woodchips, sloping floor silos can also be used. This
method facilitates handling and conveying of biomass but requires the biomass to be processed in either
chopped or pelletized form.
Biomass Properties Impacting Storage

Biomass Moisture
Biomass moisture levels during and after storage affect the feedstock suitability for end
use. Most biomass end uses require the feedstock to have low levels of moisture before
being used (eg, gasification, cogeneration of heat and electricity, heat generation).

In addition, biomass moisture also affects its storage. High moisture levels increase
water activity, which leads to increased microbial activity levels and therefore
degradation and dry matter loss. On the other hand, moisture levels below 15% have
been found to inhibit anaerobic microbial activity and allow for safe long-term storage
of biomass.

Biomass Density
Most biomass types have relatively low density when collected. This fact presents
logistical challenges with transportation, since the transportation vehicles are restricted
by the volume transported instead of the weight.

In order to increase the efficiency of the transportation and the storage stages of the
biomass supply chain, biomass may be processed. This may involve increasing the bulk
density of biomass or unitizing the biomass.

Self-heating, fire, explosion, and health and safety during biomass storage
Many biomass types are flammable materials and as such, precautions should be taken
when storing large amounts. When the moisture is reduced, flammability is increased.
Explosions can be prevented by eliminating the fuel or ignition sources, controlling
dust concentrations, or limiting the oxygen necessary to sustain combustion. The
potential effects of an explosion can be controlled by the design of the enclosure.

Dust management during storage

Accumulations of dust, especially fine dust, can be explosive when mixed with air in
appropriate concentrations and in the presence of an ignition source or a hot working
surface.
 Degradation management during storage

This is connected to the biomass moisture content. High moisture levels increase water
activity, which leads to increased microbial activity and consequently degradation and
dry matter loss.

V. Conversion and After Conversion Technologies

In order to understand conversion and after conversion technologies, it is important to understand the
general flow of converting biomass into energy. The figure below shows the general processes of
conversion labelled by different choices available for each step. Biomass must be pretreated before
entering a chemical reactor, and then a turbine will be turned by working fluid. Post-processing,
separation process should be made in order to remove harmful chemicals if applicable.

Figure 24 General Framework of Conversion Technologies

1. Feedstock Preparation (Physical, Chemical or Biological Pretreatment)

Feedstock preparation is done to improve the homogeneity of the material and to expose more
of the surface area of these materials in preparation for the chemical reactions. These involve
physical pretreatment methods which may involve the following:
Size reduction, drying, pelletization and briquetting (physical pretreatment)
Steam explosion, Liquid hot water (physicochemical pretreatment)
Organic Solvent (ORGANOSOLV), Alkali and Acid Preatreatment, among the many
Chemical pretreatment or enzymatic pretreatment (Biochemical Pretreatment)
 2. Chemical Reaction (Solid, Liquid or Gas Phase)
The heart of any chemical process is the chemical reaction, which for biomass conversion, can
be divided into 3 main categories, thermochemical, biochemical and chemical processes. These
have their own advantages and disadvantages, but should be used according to the type of
biomass and the application for power generation needed. These are summarized in the figure
below:

Figure 25 Biomass Conversion Systems (WEA, 2000)

Thermochemical process convert biomass feedstocks into more convenient forms of energy carriers
such as producer gas, oils or methanol, which have higher energy densities and can prove to be cost
effective. Thermochemical Processes involve the following:

Direct Combustion
Direct combustion involves burning of the biomass in the presence of oxygen to produce
carbon dioxide, steam and heat to produce high pressure steam for steam turbine power
generation and heat production.

Gasification
Gasification involves subjecting biomass feedstock to high temperatures in the presence of
limited oxygen conditions. Limited oxygen allows for combustion and the production of
heat needed for gasification to push through. The products of gasification would be syngas
for gas turbine and combined cycle application, fuel cell application or water-gas shift
 reaction to produce methanol and other hydrocarbon or hydrogen products either for fuel
production or fuel cell application. There are two groups involved for gasification:

1. Drying, partial gasification then complete combustion

2. Suspension and fluidized bed furnaces

Co-firing with a fossil fuel is also done to reduce the SOx and CO2 emissions associated
to coal technology.

Pyrolysis and Torrefaction

Pyrolysis involves subjecting biomass feedstock to high temperatures without oxygen

which prevents complete combustion. The reaction proceeds to directly sublimate solid
biomass to produce single carbon molecules such as CH4 and CO and Hydrogen gas called
as producer gas. The carbon dioxide production is pushed back into CO and H2O. Pyrolysis
oil and biochar is also produced along with the producer gas. Torrefaction involves lower
temperatures and is sometimes considered as a pretreatment method.

Biochemical Processes involve Bioalcohol (Bioethanol, Biomethanol, etc.) and Biogas (Methane and
Hydrogen) production. For Biological Processes, anaerobic respiration holds. For bioalcohol
production, biomass is fermented to produce alcohol in a bioreactor. It can be in a solid-state or a
submerged liquid phase. Hydrolysis by cellulase or other enzymes is done to saccharify cellulose, starch
or any other complex carbohydrate, and then fed to a fermenter where fermentation occurs. For
biomethane production, on the other hand, biogas is produced in a digester or a landfill in the absence
of oxygen to produce methane via methanogenesis. For biohydrogen production, algae and
cyanobacteria strains are placed in a photobioreactor to produce hydrogen gas as a product of
photosynthesis splitting of water into hydrogen and electrons. These are for fuel production or direct
electricity production.

Chemical processes involve Biodiesel production. Animal or plant oils (triglycerides) react with
alcohols (ethanol or methanol commonly) in base-catalyzed or acid-catalyzed conditions to produce
FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) and glycerol, where FAME has closer properties to diesel fossil fuels
than vegetable fats.
 3. Separation Processes
These are employed to purify the products for fuels, or for environmental mitigation to comply
with environmental safety standards. These are some examples:
Fuel recovery (Distillation, Adsorption or Membrane Filtration)
Environmental Compliance for Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act (Stripping,
cyclones or electrostatic precipitators, adsorption)

4. Electricity Generation
Rankine, Brayton, or Combined Cycle
Fuel cell application

Figure 19 shows a brief summary of the feedstock-conversion-product pathways that are currently
available for biomass resources:

Figure 26 Summary of Conversion Processes (Sukumara, 2014)

VI. Residues and Environmental Issues

Agriculture Residues

These are the basic data necessary to perform any assessment about available agricultural residues:
type of crop and crop surface
crop yield
plantation density (arboricultural or shrubby crops)
residue to product ratio.

To ensure data representativeness, a sufficient number of average values referred to the last harvests
performed in the area should be used. One of the most common methodology to assess residual biomass
is to consider the crop yield and a residue to product ratio, previously estimated at a regional or local
level (kg of residue per kg of biomass produced), using the following equation:

When fruit crops are considered, the relationship between the yields for the by-product (pruned
biomass) and the yields for the main product (fruits) can also be quantified. However, taking into
account that the by-products for this type of crop will be constituted only by the parts of the tree crowns
that are pruned annually or every couple of years, the aforementioned estimations are not as accurate as
the ones calculated for herbaceous crops.

Forestry Residues

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), forest by-
products are those woody materials derived from the extraction of marketable wood or from the
silvicultural operations that are performed to preserve or improve the quality of the forests. They usually
consist of branches, tops, bushes, and understory vegetation and in general are not exploited wood for
conventional uses such as timber sawing, pulp, or board production. Different by-products are obtained
depending on the process performed on the stands from diverse species and cycles, such as brushings,
first and intermediate thinnings, or regeneration fellings.
Residues from Agroforestry Industry

Agrifood Industry
The agrifood industry produces large amounts of solid wastes, about 65%, 25%, 20%,
and 15% of the processed artichokes, rice, almonds, and tomatoes, respectively. Most
of these residues have high moisture contents and are appreciated as animal feedstock
or for the production of compost. Some others, like almond shells, rice husks, or
exhausted olive cake, exhibit lower moisture contents (10 - 15%) and, consequently,
they are directly used as fuels.

Timber Industry
The biomass generated by the timber industry can be estimated by applying indices,
which correlate this amount to the used roundwood, the manufactured products, or the
number of employees. In primary wood conversion industries (sawmills or plants
where wooden boards, plywood, particle boards, chipboard panels, etc. are produced)
and cellulose pulp processing plants, the use of indices relating the generated residue
to the obtained product is very common.

Livestock By-Products
Compared to agricultural or forestry residues, the assessment of animal manure is a very simple
procedure, as its production is highly correlated with the species, livestock system, number of animals,
age, etc., and thus only a livestock census is needed. The typical ratios in use to estimate the manure
production per animal type and production system have been obtained and are currently in use for
official calculations.

Environmental Issues
Deforestation
For the expansion of Biomass Resource, more land space is needed. Clearance of forest
is needed for the production of biomass resource resulting on deforestation. The issue
pertains on whether the use of forest will be maintained or will be converted for the
production of biomass.

Water Management
For decades, the expanding world population with increasing agricultural activities has
already been placing issues on water supply. Unless sustainable water management is
 practiced, most Asian countries will have a sever water problem decades from now.
Agricultures impact on water management depends on their activities, water being
contaminated if fertilizers and pesticides is used.

Fertilizers and Pesticides

Since the beginning of Agriculture, humans have increasingly fixed atmospheric
nitrogen as ammonia to be used as fertilizers. Fertilizers are necessary to create amino
acids and carbohydrates in plants. But if used excessively, there will be negative effects
in agriculture environment since not all fertilizers and pesticides are taken up by plants
immediately. The part not taken up by crops (more than 50%) is either lost through
leaching or released to the atmosphere as N gases including nitrous oxide a potent of
greenhouse gas (GHG), (Verg et al., 2007) that may result to:

Run off land due to erosion caused by heavy rainfall

Are leached through the soil to reach the groundwater
Escape into the atmosphere as volatile gases.

Carbon Dioxide Emission

Agriculture is a source of three primary greenhouse gases (GHGs): CO2, methane
(CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) (Johnson et al., 2007). For the next three decades, Asia
is expected to be the largest source of GHG from agriculture, that is, about 50% of the
total emissions (Verg et al., 2007). Agriculture and Plantations can also act as a sink
for carbon via photosynthesis, a process known as carbon sequestration. The concept
of Carbon Neutral biomass system is founded on the belief that all the carbon dioxide
emissions generated from the combustion of biofuels is balanced off by the absorption
CO2 from the biomass via photosynthesis during its growth.

Energy Balance
All systems, including agriculture cultivation and biomass conversion, require some
amount of energy expenditures or input. Clearly, the benefits (measured as total energy
output) of the whole system should be more than the resources or energy input. The
issue is that the energy input (from equipment used) is smaller than the energy output
(biomass products) and this is not acceptable in economical aspect.
 Health Hazards
Burning of trees and other crops produces smoke that can be harmful to the
environment and nearby residences. Smoke from low quality biofuels such as farm
residues and animal wastes can cause acute bronchitis and pneumonia among infants
and women (World Health Organization (WHO)). Another is that wood smoke contains
carbon monoxide, methane and variable amount of mold spores than can get into your
eyes and respiratory system, where they can cause health problems.
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