5kg biomass = ? electricity?
I am searching literature to know the exact value of energy (electricity) we can generate by burning a unit biomass of food crops, forest wastes, grasses etc., so that economic benefits of bioenergy industry (biomass heat for electricity generation) can be calculated.
Thanks
This is an interesting question because it has so many answers! Burning anything immediately introduces Carnot cycle limitations on the efficiency of the energy conversion process. Then you need to decide how you are going to turn the heat into electricity - there are many types of heat engines that have been tried, and all of them have efficiencies well below 50%. I understand that the best natural gas generators can reach the high 40% figures. Burning organic waste does not usually result in temperatures as high as burning methane alone, and is definitely more polluting.
Don't forget that nature's photosynthetic processes are 'designed' to produce sugars and not electricity - it may actually be better to use the organic waste as soil additives to grow the next generation of crops than turn it into carbon dioxide and electricity. Overall, you don't have a very effective system - sunlight via photosynthesis absorbs carbon dioxide to build sugars and finally biomass, which is burnt to produce carbon dioxide and electricity. You are using carbon dioxide in effect as sort of catalyst to turn sunlight into electricity. This is far, far less efficient than replacing a small area of land with silicon solar cells IF what you want is just electricity.
The energy reserve per metric tonne of biomass is between about 1.5E3 – 3E3 Kilowatt hours (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass )
Hence, 1 kg will give between 1.5 and 3 kWh. Depends on the type of biomass.
Hi Maine,
Thanks for your reply. Numerous empirical reports suggest the use of biomass including wood from various sources, agricultural residues, forest leaves and animal and human waste can be used for generating electricity by its burning after developing highly dense briquettes. Even in total global annual renewable energy consumption the highest contribution is of biomass energy. So it might be a profitable business if people have enough source of biomass from wastes and dedicated biomass production systems to run industry.
Dear Kripal Sing
Electricity potential may vary according to variety of biomass and its stucture (such as: moisture content, lignin, selulose and hemiselulose content, … etc). Therefore it is not easy to to formulate the transformation coefficients wood-waste materials to electricity. You can get some usefull information from the artciles whose link was given below.
http://www.gvepinternational.org/sites/default/files/resources/gtz2010-en-small-scale-electricity-generation-from-biomass-part-i.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Biomass-Overview.pdf
EEGJulyrevisedFINAL1-2003-030-0548-2-.pdf
https://www.ecn.nl/fileadmin/ecn/units/bio/Overig/pdf/Biomassa_voordelen.pdf
https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WER_2013_7_Bioenergy.pdf
The energy potential of agro-forest wastes may vary depending on the habitat characteristics, type of waste materials, type and concentration of fertilizer and pesticide used in the production of waste.
Best Wishes,
Turan Yüksek
The following articles can help you find the answer
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098614000883
https://worldbioenergy.org/uploads/Factsheet_Biomass%20potential.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222514904_A_comprehensive_review_of_biomass_resources_and_biofuels_potential_in_Ghana
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/analysis-of-biomass-waste-potentials-for-electrical-generation-in-wabane-sub-division--cameroon-2090-4541-1000216.php?aid=79403
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/sites/iee-projects/files/projects/documents/biomass_futures_atlas_of_technical_and_economic_biomass_potential_en.pdf
Don't forget that the chemical energy in biomass fulfils a natural function in assisting its biodegradation and recycling without the release of excess CO2 into the environment. Intercepting or bypassing this part of the natural cycle produces much larger amounts of CO2 and leaves behind an ash residue that is not so easily reconverted into quality soil. Basically biomass isn't "waste" at all - it's just part of the natural carbon cycle, and treating it as waste ignores this important point.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Correction