Bioenergy is an exceptionally adaptable energy source. It can be swiftly scaled up or down to meet demand, making it an amazing backup for weather-dependent renewables like wind and solar.
FREMONT, CA: Biomass is specified as 'feedstock' when employed as an energy source. Feedstocks can be farmed specifically for their energy content (an energy crop) or made of waste products from agriculture, food processing, and lumber manufacturing.
In boilers or furnaces, dry, combustible feedstocks like wood pellets are burned. Consequently, water boils, and steam is created, spinning a turbine to induce electricity. Wet feedstocks, for example, food waste, are placed in sealed tanks to decompose and produce methane gas (also called biogas). It is likely to trap and burn gas to produce electricity. It can also be injected into the national gas infrastructure and used for cooking and heating.
Bioenergy is an incredibly adaptable source of energy. It can be rapidly scaled up or down to satisfy demand, making it an ideal backup for weather-reliant renewables like wind and solar.
Is Bioenergy Sustainable and Eco-Friendly?
Carbon dioxide is liberated when biomass is burned. Anyway, it does not interrupt the carbon balance of the atmosphere as it releases the same quantity of carbon that the organic matter utilized to produce it received while growing.
By contrast, burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide tangled for millions of years from when the earth's atmosphere was different. This releases extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, disturbing the carbon cycle. So whether waste feedstocks or energy crops are utilized, bioenergy's overall sustainability and environmental advantages can vary.
Waste Feedstocks
When waste biomass rots, it naturally emits gases. If this happens in an environment with no oxygen, as food waste buried deep beneath a landfill, methane, a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, can be produced. Preferably letting methane escape into the atmosphere, it can be trapped and burned by breaking it down in a confined tank. Burning methane produces carbon dioxide and water, both useful to the environment.
Energy Crops
Energy crops are those that are planted just to yield electricity. So, unlike extracting methane from garbage, there is not a case that can be made that burning them cuts greenhouse gas emissions that would have been freed anyhow.
Although energy crops can still be low-carbon, they are managed sustainably. So, for instance, when energy crops are burned, equal crops should be planted to assimilate the same amount of carbon emitted by the burning.
