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CHAPTER II
This chapter presents the review of local and foreign literature and studies related to the
research study conducted. This accommodates concepts and ideas from journals, case studies,
electronic documents, and words of other researchers that are highly significant to the study.
Renewable energy are those that come from sources which are naturally replenishing but
flow-limited. They are virtually inexhaustible in duration but limited in the amount of energy that
is available per unit of time. However, this type of energy resources such as wind and solar energy
are constantly replenished and will not run out. Most known types of renewable energy sources
are hydropower, geothermal, wind, solar, and biomass. Biomass may include wood and wood
waste, municipal solid waste, landfill gas and biogas, ethanol, and biodiesel. Fossil fuels, on the
other hand, are non-renewable which means they came from finite resources that will eventually
diminish. As a result, this sources are becoming too expensive and greatly damaging to the
Since 1900’s, as more countries become industrialized and world population escalate, the
energy consumption also increases constantly. Currently, the most dominating energy source
around the world is the fossil fuel, most especially the crude oil. The reserve of this energy source
is known to be limited and will deplete in the near future at its current consumption rate, which
causes its price to increase. As the world economy is heavily dependent on oil, its limited
in the next decades for its limited productions, the burning of fossil fuels also causes environmental
concerns. Burned fossil fuels emits greenhouse gasses (GHG), one of the major reason of climate
change. In its obvious sense, it does not only damage the environment but also harm the beings
that live in it. These reasons pull the interest of exploring the use renewable energy sources.
“Renewable Energy Sources” (n.d.) describes sunlight, along with the rain, causes the
plants to grow. The organic matter that constitute or compose those plants is called biomass.
Biomass is one of the types of renewable energy source. It can be used to produce electricity,
transportation fuels, or chemicals; and the use of biomass for any these purposes is known as
bioenergy.
According to Jay Cheng, the production of energy from biomass such as wood, wood
waste, crops, herbaceous, and organic waste has more advantage than producing energy from fossil
fuels. Biomass is a renewable energy source, which means it is able to be replaced by the nature
in just a year or for several years. Unlike fossil fuels, it would take thousands or millions of years
for it to reproduce.
For the damage and effect of this sources to the climate change, Cheng discloses his
statement as this:
“The energy production from biomass releases CO2, which is believed to be a major
greenhouse gas and cause global climate change, but the CO2 is utilized by biosynthesis during
the growth of the biomass. Thus, using biomass for energy production can have a balanced CO2
production and consumption or little ne CO2 release, compared to a huge discharge of CO2 from
which include petroleum, natural gas, and coal, 6.9% nuclear energy, 5.8% biomass, 2.5%
hydroelectric power and 4.0% other renewable energy (Energy Information Administration, 2017).
In United States, until mid-1800’s, most of its nations were highly dependent on wood as
a source of energy especially for the need of heating, cooking, and light. Currently, U.S. relies
heavily on fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas as a major source of energy. Until
1900’s, the most used renewable energy source in the country was hydropower and solid biomass.
In 2017, about 11 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) were provided by renewable energy- 1
quadrillion is the number 1 followed by 15 zeros- equal to the 11% of the total energy of
consumption of U.S. About 57% of U.S. renewable energy consumption was by the electric power
sector, and about 17% of U.S. electricity generation was from renewable energy sources. (EIA,
2018)
According to Jay Cheng, there is a noticeable increase in the percentage of biomass energy
in the last ten years. Biomass energy can be generated from crops, grasses, woods, agricultural
residues, and organic wastes which are amply available. Therefore, there is a great potential for
The crisis for the need of sustainable fuels can be addressed by the ethanol production.
Ethanol is provided by biomass which is mostly produced through fermentation process using
glucose. This glucose may be derived from sugar (sugar cane, sugar beet, molasses), starch (corn,
wheat, grains), or cellulose (forest products) as raw materials. Therefore, ethanol is renewable.
According to Bioenergy Australia, ethanol production does not interfere with food
production since it is mostly made from waste products such as sugar cane, waste from starch
ethanol in the United State. Since 1980’s, the use of ethanol for fuel transportation has been
steadily growing. The United State industry, in 1981, produces 200 million gallons of ethanol
annually and has continued to grow ‘til the present. In 2015, almost 15 billion gallons or 57 billion
liters of ethanol were produced. And in year 2017, it has produced 15.8 billion gallons of ethanol.
Ethanol used as an additive to gasoline supplies to replace the octane enhancer’s lead,
benzene, toluene, and xylene as they were being removed from gasoline because of toxicity
concerns. The addition of ethanol to gasoline that boost octane is an alternative to more severe
refining operations making ethanol one of the most cost-effective octane enhancers available to
According to Jay Cheng, biogas is generally produced from organic waste materials such
as sewage sludge, agricultural wastes, industrial wastes, and municipal solid wastes. Using
vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste oils, biodiesel can be produced and aid problem by being an
alternative for petroleum diesel for busses and trucks. Number of commercialized plants that
produces biogas are in operation which utilized sewage sludge, animal manure, and municipal
solid wastes into an effective electricity generator or direct combustion of heat for heat production.
This processes does not only help in aiding the limited availability of non-renewable energy
resources, but also help in protecting the environment by being a proper treatment for waste
materials.
According to Jay Cheng, there are four major benefits that can be gain in using and
1. Energy Independence: Most economy depends on the imported oil that came from limited
oil-producing countries in the world. One of these countries that are highly dependent on
imported crude oil and natural gas reserves is the United State. U.S., containing 4% of the
world population, consumes 25% of the world's oil production. This dependence on oil
leave the country vulnerable to disruption of oil supplies that may be cause of natural
phenomenon, political interruption, and price volatility. Small change in the prices of
crude oils also affect the U.S. economy by increasing trade deficit, decreasing industrial
investment, and lowering employment levels. As a way of aiding these catastrophe, the
country may increase its consumption of domestically produced renewable resources, such
as biomass- derived transportation fuels (e.g. E15, E85). In 2010, the dependence on
imported oils was reduced for 445 barrels due to the production and consumption of
ethanol. With the development of bioenergy markets, the deficiency of countries to oil can
Bioenergy council)
2. Air quality: Oxygenated fuels such as ethanol typically promote more complete combustion
as compared to fossil fuels. More complete combustion translates into fewer emissions,
particularly carbon monoxide (CO) emissions (National Science and Technology Council,
1997).
3. Water Quality: According to Victoria State Government, biofuels such as ethanol and
biodiesel are biodegradable and less toxic than Petroleum-based fuels and petrochemicals.
These chemicals are actually harmful to the environment and are major surface and ground
water-pollutants. In U.S., the methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) has possibly damaging
the water quality and human health. For this reason, MTBE is replaced by ethanol as the
preferred octane enhancer because of its ability to breakdown quickly and less threat to
environment.
4. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission: The combustion of fossil fuels results in a net increase
in the emission of GHGs (primarily carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere. According to the
approximately one-third (1/3) of all carbon dioxide emissions. The impact of GHGs on
global climate change is of increasing concern around the world. Use of biogas, bioethanol,
and biodiesel as energy sources can significantly reduce the net GHG emissions. For
example, the use of E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) can reduce the net emissions of
GHGs by as much as 25% on a fuel cycle basis as compared with the gasoline (Wang,
1999).
References