A

DOCUMENTORY REPORT
ON

Seminar on Contemporary Issues

on Management-2

ON

BIOMASS ENERGY

Submitted to
Ms. Vaishali Shah

INDUKAKA IPCOWALA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (I2IM)

M.B.A PROGRAMME
Constituent of Charotar University of Science and Technology
(CHARUSAT)

Presented by
SANNI M. PATEL
M.B.A Semester – III
Roll. No. 09MBA35
SEPTEMBER 2010

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What is Biomass Energy?

Biomass, a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently

living organisms, such as wood, waste, (hydrogen) gas, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is
commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce heat. In this sense, living
biomass can also be included, as plants can also generate electricity while still alive. The
most conventional way on how biomass is used however, still relies on direct
incineration. Forest residues for example (such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps),
yard clippings, wood chips and garbage are often used for this. However, biomass also
includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers or chemicals. Biomass may
also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic
materials such as fossil fuels which have been transformed by geological processes into
substances such as coal or petroleum.

Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants,

including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane[3],
and a variety of treespecies, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The
particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the
processing of the raw material.

Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered
biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been
"out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the
carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.

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Why use BIOMASS?

Biomass is a renewable, low carbon fuel that is already widely, and often
economically available throughout the UK. Its production and use also brings additional
environmental and social benefits. Correctly managed, biomass is a sustainable fuel that
can deliver a significant reduction in net carbon emissions when compared with fossil
fuels.

Burning any carbon based fuel converts carbon to carbon dioxide. Unless it is
captured and stored, this carbon dioxide is usually released to the atmosphere. Burning
fossil fuels releases carbon that was removed from the amosphere millions of years ago
by animal and plant life. This leads to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere

Biomass includes generating heat or heat & power simultaneously referred to a

Combined Heat & Power (CHP). The fuel for this energy output could stem from either
vegetable, animal matter or wood. This may Include large or farm small scale anaerobic
digestion to Biodiesel plant production. Because Scotland has a plentiful supply
with almost double the woodfuel available for the market in the next 10 years, the
country is able to supply a growing demand from newly installed boilers.

Heat demand is around 55% of energy consumed in North Britain. By switching

to biomass one can make substantial savings and still heat your space and provide hot
water FOR LESS. Paying your electricity bills for heating is madness! and if you pay
for an electricity company via a prepaid meter you are just throwing your savings away

The burning of biomass does kick out carbon dioxideamong other gases. Carbon
dioxide, of course, is a greenhouse gas. Proponents of biomass energy, however, argue
that the gases produced are not really a problem because they are part of the current

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biocycle. By this, they are arguing that carbon dioxide is a natural element produced in
nature and they are correct.

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 Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are outside of the natural biocycle in the world
because they are buried in the ground, which effectively means they are not part of
naturally occurring phases. As we dig and drill fossil fuels out of the ground, we are
adding the harmful elements found in them to a system that cannot withstand the
massive influx.

We already use many biomass fuels in our daily lives. The first cavemen used
them to light fires for warmth, protection and cooking. Today, we use them to power
our automobiles in the form of biodiesal and bioethanol. Whether you realize it or not,
these two fuels have been going into our cars at gas stations since 1990 in parts of the
country. The reason is they are used as additives in gasoline for the purpose of cutting
harmful carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, federal law mandates their use in certain
cities such as Los Angeles as well as in most government vehicles.

Carbon dioxide produced from vehicles makes up over a third of all

the greenhouse gases produced in our country. Bioethanol made from corn cuts these
emissions by over 20 percent compared to your basic gasoline. Biodiesel made from
soybeans cuts emissions by as much as 80 percent. Any way you cut it, using biomass
fuel is a step in the right direction

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Biomass Energy Pros

• Biomass energy is an inexhaustible and renewable energy source. The products

obtained are biogas and biofuel. Heat and electricity are generated during biomass
energy production.
• There is plethora of organic waste and agricultural waste generated everyday.
Biomass is produced from these wastes, which makes biomass an easily available
resource.
• It helps in solid waste management by keeping us pollution free. Incineration of
biological wastes everyday, cuts down the levels of expulsion of carbon into the
atmosphere. Thus, it maintains an ecological balance of carbon present in the
environment.
• Biomass briquettes are the substances which produce electricity. The electricity
generated by the briquettes is much cleaner than that obtained fromfossil fuels. It
does not emit any greenhouse gases.
• One of the most important advantages of biomass energy is that it is cost effective.
Generally, the energy is generated and supplied in the same area due to which
installation of large pipelines is not required.

Biomass Energy Cons

• Some of the gases like carbon-dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are emitted into
the atmosphere during biomass production which may damage the ozone layer. It
may contribute to global warming.
• The process of extraction of biomass is very expensive.
• The accumulation, harvesting and storage of raw biomass materials is quite
expensive compared to that of fossil fuels.
• The set up of a biomass power plant requires huge space and the recycling of
wastes requires a large amount of water.

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 • Another biomass energy disadvantage is that the ethanol produced during the
process, may increase the levels of nitrogen oxide in the atmosphere

Interesting Facts of Biomass Energy

• Biomass is an ubiquitous resource.

• In rural districts, people use biomass as a source of heat for cooking and heating
purposes.
• People living in rural areas use the fuel obtained from biomass in their agricultural
activities like crop-drying.
• Biomass is used for the production of natural gas called biogas.
• Biomass can replace the use of fossil fuels thus contributing to a reduction in air
pollution.
• Biodiesel is obtained from biomass which is a low-net-carbon fuel for vehicles.

Evaluating the biomass energy pros and cons is an important step in determining
whether biomass is the ideal alternative renewable energy source. There are many types
of this material, because any organic material which decays is biomass, and also many
ways to use this material to create fuel and energy. All energy sources have advantages
and disadvantages, and it is important to evaluate these to determine whether the
renewable source is environmentally friendly, safe, efficient, and effective.

Some processes and materials used are not very efficient, with some greenhouse
gas emissions and high power use involved in the process. Some of the first biofuels were
created from corn and soybeans, which are food crops. This removes these foods from the
global food supply, and there have been accusations of increased hunger around the
world and food shortages, which have been blamed on biofuels.

Biomass energy production has many benefits, and this is undeniable. As long as
food crops and land capable of growing these crops are not used, there is no need to
worry about fuel and power taking away from food or contributing to world hunger.
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Some forms of biomass energy production can release carbon and other greenhouse
gases, but it is in much smaller amounts than what is released by fossil fuels.

Biomass energy pros and cons have changed over the years, making this
alternative energy source much better currently than it was even five or ten years ago.
Using municipal waste has added benefits, because this waste is normally dumped into
landfills, further polluting the earth and environment.

Using biomass for energy could resolve the world oil dependence while
eliminating a lot of the garbage and debris that is currently polluting the earth. This can
be done using different methods, but the end result is that waste is being used and not
discarded. Fossil fuel reserves in the earth are getting harder and harder to locate and
recover, and many times these efforts can cause enormous amount of damages to the
area and wildlife.

One of the biomass energy pros and cons is the reduced need for transportation.
This energy can be produced and supplied in the area, so there is no need for large
pipelines or other massive infrastructure building. This also eliminates the pollution
caused by vehicles transporting the energy source.

The biomass energy is produced and used locally, making it much more effective
and very cost efficient. The biomass energy pros and cons should be compared, but in
most cases the advantages offered by this alternative renewable power source greatly
outweigh the disadvantages seen.

Biomass is widely varied, so there is a great deal of flexibility, and this process
can be customized for each location to utilize the most cost effective and efficient method
of generating energy. This alternative source of energy may be the answer to the future,
one where environmentally friendly renewable power sources are used in place of the
harmful fossil fuels that the world is so dependent on today.

Thus, after looking at the pros and cons of biomass energy, one can easily notice
that biomass advantages outweigh its disadvantages. Biomass has the potential to supply

8
15 times more energy than that produced from the wind and the sun. More effective
methods of using biomass have evolved in recent times. Biomass will always remain a
useful energy source as it is efficient and environment friendly.

Lessons from the

Pura community biogas project

Background
The community biogas plant project in Pura village (about 120 km from Bangalore
in Tumkur district of Karnataka state, South India) has a long history. It provides cooking
gas and lighting. Contrary to the then prevailing view that dependence on fuel wood for
cooking was the main cause of deforestation, it was found that women and children, the
main fuel wood gatherers, concentrated on fallen twigs and branches, rather than logs
from felled trees.
Nevertheless, fuel wood was associated with a number of problems -- the labour
and time spent by women and children gathering the fuel wood, the indoor air pollution
caused by the smoke from the fuel wood stoves, etc. An alternative to fuel wood was
desirable and, in this context, biogas by the anaerobic fermentation of cattle dung-was
highlighted.

First phase of the project

During the first phase of this project, which started in 1978, the attempt was to
provide all the households of the village with biogas for cooking. In addition to two
community-scale biogas digesters (of 4.1 m diameter and 4.2 m depth) constructed with
the ‘‘floating drum’’ design, a biogas distribution network was laid down to enable the
piping of biogas to specially designed burners supplied to all the houses. The adequacy of
the gas supply depended on the size of the families -- the smaller families with less than 5
members (constituting the majority of the households) could finish their cooking.
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Community Biogas Plant in Pura Village

In contrast, a minority of households with large families (and large cattle-

holdings) could not complete their cooking tasks even though they were the predominant
dung suppliers. Averaging over the whole village, the total gas yield turned out to be
sufficient only for cooking one meal. The inadequacy of gas was not because of poor
collection of the available dung -- in fact, plant operators would go to all the cattle-sheds
in the houses with a wheelbarrow, weigh the dung and bring it for processing, leading to
dung collection efficiency of over 90 %. The shortfall of gas supply with respect to
demand was because of two reasons.
Firstly, there was an overestimation of cow dung resources -- the house-to-house
dung survey was carried out after the rains in November whereas the availability of
cowdung from free-ranging cattle varies with the season.
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 Table showing the statistics on Pura village

Secondly, there was an underestimation of biogas requirements because. The

estimation (starting from fuel wood consumption) is sensitive to the efficiencies of fuel
wood and biogas stoves, which had not been accurately measured at that time. The
cooking gas phase of the project lasted more than one year before coming to a standstill
in 1984. In retrospect, it appears that the low cattle-human ratio was the main barrier to
meeting all the cooking energy needs of the village.
However, that villages with large cattle-to-human ratios (or with moderate ratios
and stall-feeding arrangements) would be able to develop successful biogas-based
cooking energy schemes more easily. Fortunately, after a few months, the villagers
petitioned to restart the project with an emphasis on generating lectricity from the biogas
to pump drinking water and light homes. Though these end-uses together require only a
fraction of the energy required for cooking, they correspond to a dramatic improvement
in the quality of life.

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 Dung collection in kg, monthwise from March 1982 to February 1983

Second phase of the project

In the second phase of the project, the scheme consisted of the villagers supplying
cowdung to the biogas plant where it would be anaerobically fermented to yield biogas
that would fuel a modified diesel engine that in turnwould run an electrical generator.
The electricity thus produced would run an electrical submersible pump in a tubewell
and lift drinking water for the village, and in addition be supplied to the households to
provide electrical illumination. The same two community-scale biogas digesters used in
the first cooking phase of the project were also utilized for the second phase.

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 The maximum design input to the plants is 1.25 tonnes (t) of cattle-dung mixed
with 1.25 m3 water per day. The plants can produce, at an average ambient temperature
of 25-26ºC, a maximum of 42.5 m3 biogas per day (approximately 60 % CH4 and 40 %
CO2). In addition to the gas, the charging of the dung plus water slurry would displace
about 2.45 m3 per day of digested slurry, which yields after removal of the water by
filtration about 1.2 t/day of sludge.

This slurry which contains 3.6 kg (2.2 %) of nitrogen -- the same amount of
nitrogen as in the input -- was returned to the villagers in roportion
to the dung that was supplied. A 7-horsepower (7-hp, 5.2-kW) water-cooled biogasdiesel
(dual-fuel) engine was installed in an engine room (5.05 m ´ 3.5 m) located at the edge of
the village next to the fields. The biogas from the biogas plant passes through a
condensation trap and then enters the engine where it is supplemented with diesel to run
the engine. The engine is coupled to a 5-kVA 440-V three-phase generator to enable the
operation of a three-phase submersible pump.

In India, Biogas option is considered largely as a cooking fuel. The need for
considering decentralized electricity options and the potential of biogas is analyzed. A
field-demonstration programme was implemented in pure village in South India to use
cattle dung in a community biogas plant to generated electricity for services such as
pumping drinking water and home lighting.

Technology

The Indian floating-drum design shown in fig.1 with modified dimensions for cost
reductions was used. The Pure biogas plants have a capacity to digest up to 1.2 t cattle
dung/day and produce 42.5-m3 biogas/day. Sand bed filters were installed to remove
excess water and convert the sludge to dung-like consistency for subsequent use as a
fertilizer. The filtrate, which contains the required anaerobic microorganisms, is mixed

13
with the input dung. A 5 kW diesel engine is connected to a 5kVA, 440 V three-phase
generator of electricity generation.

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Lighting
Out of 87 house holds in the village 39 already had grid electricity, there are 103
fluorescent tube lights of 20 W capacity connected biogas generated electricity. Forty-
seven houses opted for one tube light and 25 houses have two tube lights. Lighting is
provided in the evening for 2.5 hours/day. Even homes connected to the grid had lighting
connections from the biogas system.

Water supply
A submersible pump is connected to a tube well and water is pumped to storage
tanks for 1 hour and 40 minutes/day. The majority of the households have opted for
private taps at their doorsteps.

The water supply system (which started operation in September 1987) consists of
a three-phase, 3-hp (2.24 kW) 6.75 m3/hr submersible pump fitted into a tubewell. This
pump lifts water from a 50-m depth to an overhead tank. The water is then distributed by
gravity through nine street taps in the village. One of the taps is for livestock and one tap
is in the biogas plant compound. In addition, there are 29 private taps inside the
ouseholds. The lighting system (energised in October 1988) consists of 103 20-W
fluorescent tube-lights -- 97 in homes, two at a public temple, and four in the biogas plant
complex. 47 houses elected to have one tube-light and 25 have two. The life of the tube-
lights was found to be between 1580 and 1957 hours on the basis of the empirical
experience of replacing 58 tube-lights from August to December 1990. In a sample
period from September 1987 to April 1991 (44 months), the biogas-driven engine ran for
4,521 hr -- 2,211 hr for supplying water and 2,310 hr for providing electrical lighting.
The average daily operation time has been 4 hr 9 min -- 1 hr 40 min for water and 2 hr 29
min for lighting.

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 The biomass energy pros and cons should be compared, but in most cases the
advantages offered by this alternative renewable power source greatly outweigh the
disadvantages seen.

Biomass is widely varied, so there is a great deal of flexibility, and this process
can be customized for each location to utilize the most cost effective and efficient method
of generating energy. This alternative source of energy may be the answer to the future,
one where environmentally friendly renewable power sources are used in place of the
harmful fossil fuels that the world is so dependent on today.

Thus, after looking at the pros and cons of biomass energy, one can easily notice
that biomass advantages outweigh its disadvantages. Biomass has the potential to supply
15 times more energy than that produced from the wind and the sun. More effective
methods of using biomass have evolved in recent times. Biomass will always remain a
useful energy source as it is efficient and environment friendly.

16
 References

http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?a=p&p=home&l=en&w=utf-8

http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?
_pageid=75,225235&_dad=portal/

http://www.bionomicfuel.com/fuel/alternative-sources-of-energy/biomass-
energy/

http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?
_pageid=73,1&_dad=portal/

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