BIOMASS AS ENERGY

 Biomass energy is an indirect solar energy and it is the oldest known renewable energy
that humans have been using since the discovery of fire.

 The term biomass refers to vegetative and organic materials coming from agricultural,
forestry, urban, and other rural activities, mainly via photosynthetic process capturing
some of the solar energy.

 The materials used for biomass energy conversion are known as ‘Natural Materials’.
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 Plants used up a lot of the sun's energy to make their own food (photosynthesis).

 They stored the foods in the plants in the form of chemical energy.

 As the plants died, the energy is trapped in the residue.

 This trapped energy is usually released by burning and can be converted into biomass.
Energy.

 It is such a widely utilized source of energy, probably due to its low cost and indigenous
nature, that it accounts for almost 15% of the world's total energy supply and as much as
35% in developing countries, mostly for cooking and heating.
Biomass-renewable energy from plants and animals
 Different uses of Biomass

 Wood and wood processing wastes—burned to heat buildings, to produce process heat in
industry, and to generate electricity

 Agricultural crops and waste materials—burned as a fuel or converted to liquid biofuels

 Food, yard, and wood waste in garbage—burned to generate electricity in power plants
or converted to biogas in landfills

 Animal manure and human sewage—converted to biogas, which can be burned as a fuel
 How is biomass converted into energy?

Burning: 
 This is a very common way of converting organic matter into energy. Burning stuff like
wood, waste and other plant matter releases stored chemical energy in the form of
heat, which can be used to turn shafts to produce electricity.
 Figure below show the simple illustration of how biomass is used to generate
electricity.
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1. Energy from the sun is transferred and stored in plants. When the plants are cut or die,
wood chips, straw and other plant matter is delivered to the bunker

2. This is burned to heat water in a boiler to release heat energy (steam).

3. The energy/power from the steam is directed to turbines with pipes

4. The steam turns a number of blades in the turbine and generators, which are made of coils
and magnets.

5. charged magnetic fields produce electricity, which is sent to homes by cables.

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Other ways in which organic matter can be converted into energy include:
Decomposition: 

 Things that can rot, like garbage, human and animal waste, dead animals and the like can
be left to rot, releasing a gas called biogas (also known as methane gas or landfill gas).
 Methane can be captured by a machine called Microturbine and converted into electricity.
 Animal waste (poop) can also be converted into methane by a machine called 'Anaerobic
Digester‘
Fermentation: 

 Ethanol can be produced from crops with lots of sugars, like corn and sugarcane.
 The process used to produce ethanol is called gasification.
 Biomass Energy in Asian Developing Countries

 Biomass remains the primary energy source in the developing countries in Asia.

 Share of biomass in energy varies –

 Over three quarters in percent in Nepal Laos, Bhutan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Myanmar;

 Nearly half in Vietnam, Pakistan and Philippines; Bangladesh

 Nearly a third, in India and Indonesia,

 10 percent, in China and

 7 percent in Malaysia .
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 In the wake of rapid industrialization and marketization during past two decades, the
higher penetration of commercial fossil fuels in most Asian developing nations has caused
decline in the share of biomass energy.

 The absolute consumption of biomass energy has however risen unabatedly during past
two decades, growing at an annual rate of over 2 percent .

 Various factors like rising population and shortages or unaffordability of commercial fuels
in rural and traditional sectors have sustained the growing biomass use.
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 The increasing pressure on existing forests has already lead to considerable deforestation.

 Despite policy interventions by many Asian governments, the deforestation in far exceeded
afforestation during the 1980’s

 The deforestation and land degradation has made tropical Asian forests the net emitters of
atmospheric CO2 .

 The sustainable growth of biomass energy in Asia therefore would require augmenting existing
biomass resources with modern plantations and energy crops and by introducing efficient biomass
energy conversion technologies.

 Lately, many Asian countries have initiated such programs.

 Problems associated with the traditional biomass
use is excessive pollution.

 The incomplete combustion of biomass in traditional stoves releases pollutants like

carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, benzene, formaldehyde and respiratable
particulate matter.

 These pollutants cause considerable damage to health, especially of women and children
who are exposed to indoor. pollution for long duration.

 The twin problems of traditional biomass use are the energy inefficiency and excessive
pollution.
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 Three main problems associated with the traditional biomass are :

 Inefficient combustion technologies,

 Environmental hazards from indoor pollution and

 Unsustainable harvesting practices.

 The aim of modern biomass programs are to overcome these problems

 BIOMASS ENERGY IN INDIA.

 Biomass contributes over a third of primary energy in India.

 Biomass fuels are predominantly used in rural households for cooking and water heating,
as well as by traditional and artisan industries.

 Biomass delivers most energy for the domestic use (rural - 90% and urban - 40%) in India

 Woods contribute 56 percent of total biomass energy. Other biomass used in India crop
residue, cattle dung cake etc.
 BIOMASS ENERGY IN BANGLADESH

 Biomass is the most significant energy source in Bangladesh which accounts for half
(about 55%) of the total energy consumption in Bangladesh.

 In Bangladesh these comprise of agricultural residues, mainly from rice and wheat plants,
paddy husk and bran, bagasse, jute sticks; materials of tree origin like twigs, leaves and
fuel wood; charcoal; and animal (cattle) dung etc.

 The total amount of biomass fuels consumed in the year 2000 was nearly 45 million tons.
 Thank You

Dr. Golam Mowla Choudhury

Professor
Department of ETE