University of zakho

Faculty of science
Department of physics

Biomass energy

Produced by:
harveen hussien ali
dua ghiath aldeen
nazdar salih

Supervised:
by: dr. wasfya

2021-2022

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Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
What is the biomass? .................................................................................................................................... 5
Sources of biomass energy ........................................................................................................................... 6
Sources of biomass for energy generation ................................................................................................... 6
Food crops................................................................................................................................................. 6
Hydrocarbon-rich plants ........................................................................................................................... 7
Biofuels ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
FUELS......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Biodiesel .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Bio-oil ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
Other Hydrocarbon Biofuels ......................................................................................................................... 8
Biomass energy wood supply ....................................................................................................................... 8
Methods of Extracting Biomass Energy ...................................................................................................... 10
1. Direct Combustion .............................................................................................................................. 10
2. Gasification ......................................................................................................................................... 11
3. Pyrolysis .............................................................................................................................................. 11
4. Digestion ............................................................................................................................................. 11
5. Fermentation ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Plant power ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 12
REFERENCE .................................................................................................................................................. 13

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Abstract

We have talked in this report about biomass, biomass is a renewable source of fuel for energy
production for the following reasons: Waste residues will always be present - in terms of wood waste,
mill residues and forest resources; And Properly managed forests will always have more trees, and we
will always have crops and biological material left over from those crops. And speaking of biomass
energy sources, the term biomass energy can refer to any source of thermal energy produced from non-
fossil biological materials. Biomass energy can come from ocean and freshwater habitats as well as from
land. Biomass energy ranges from firewood to ethanol produced from corn or sugar cane to methane
from landfills. And we talked about the source of bioenergy energy.

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Introduction

There are many different ways in which the abundance of energy around us can be stored,
converted and implied for our use. Energy sources will play an important role in the worlds
Future. The energy sources have been split into three categories: fossil fuels, renewable sources
and nuclear sources. The fossil fuels are coal, petroleum and natural gas. The point where the
cost of producing energy from fossil fuels exceeds the cost of biomass fuels has been reached.
With a few exceptions, energy from fossil fuels will cost more money than the same amount of
energy supplied through biomass conversion. Biomass is the term used to de- scribe all
biologically produced matter. World production of biomass is estimated at 146 billion metric
tons a year, mostly wild plant growth.

The renewable energy sources are solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal power.
The nuclear powered sources aression and fusion.

Biomass is the name given to all the earth's living matter. It is a general term for material
derived from growing plants or from animal manure which is effectively a processed form of
plant material). It is a rather simple term for all organic material that stems from plants
including algae), trees and crops. Biomass energy is derived from plant and animal material,
such as wood from natural forests, waste from agricultural and forestry processes and
industrial, human or animal wastes.

Plants absorb solar energy, using it to drive the process of photosynthesis, which enables them
to live. The energy in biomass from plant matter originally comes from solar energy through the
process known as photosynthesis. The energy, which is stored in plants and animals 􏰁that eat
plants or other animals), or in the wastes that they produce, is called biomass energy. This
energy can be recovered by burning biomass as a fuel. During combustion, biomass re- leases
heat and carbon dioxide that was absorbed while the plant was growing. Essentially, the use of
biomass is the reversal of photosynthesis. Is biomass energy a variety of chemical energy? In
nature, all biomass ultimately decomposes to its molecules with the release of heat. The
release of energy from the combustion of biomass imitates natural processes. Therefore, the
energy obtained from biomass is a form of renewable energy and, in principle, utilizing this
energy does not add carbon dioxide to the environment, in contrast to fossil fuels. Of all the
renewable sources of energy, biomass is unique in that it is effectively stored solar energy.
Furthermore, it is the only renewable source of carbon and is able to be converted into
convenient solid, liquid and gaseous fuels.

Biomass can be used directly e.g. burning wood for heating and cooking) or indirectly by
converting it into a liquid or gaseous fuel e.g. alcohol from sugar crops or biogas from animal

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waste). The net energy available from biomass when it is combusted ranges from about 8
MJ/kg for green wood, to 20 MJ/kg for dry plant matter, to 55 MJ/kg for methane, as compared
with about 27 MJ/kg for coal.

Many biomass ®red electricity generators use waste materials, such as straw or domestic
refuse. Other schemes are based on the idea of cultivating crops of various kinds, especially to
provide biomass for fuel. [1]

What is the biomass?

Biomass is any organic matter that can be used as an energy source. Wood, crops, and yard and
animal waste are examples of biomass. People have used biomass longer than any other energy
source. For thousands of years, people have burned wood to heat their homes and cook their
food.
Biomass gets its energy from the sun. Plants absorb sunlight in a process called photosynthesis.
With sunlight, air, water, and nutrients from the soil, plants make sugars called carbohydrates.
Foods that are rich in carbohydrates (like spaghetti) are good sources of energy for the human
body. Biomass is called a renewable energy source because we can grow more in a short period
of time. [2]

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Sources of biomass energy

The term biomass energy can refer to any source of heat energy produced from non-fossil
biological materials. Biomass energy can come from ocean and freshwater habitats as well
as from land. Biomass energy ranges from firewood to ethanol produced from corn or
sugarcane to methane captured from landfills. Possible future energy sources such as
hydrogen from engineered microorganisms or electricity from photosynthetic cells could
also be considered biomass energy, although these will have a different series of technical
challenges than those for current biomass energy derived from terrestrial plants. Before
the start of the industrial revolution, biomass energy was the world’s dominant energy
source]. It is still important, accounting for 7% of world primary energy consumption in
2000], or roughly one-third of the energy from sources other than fossil fuels. The other
two large sources of non-fossil fuel energy (each contributing as much energy as biomass
contributes) are nuclear and hydroelectric power]. Renewables, such as wind and solar
currently sum to <1% of the global energy demand. [3]

Sources of biomass for energy generation

Any and every type of biomass can be used to either burn it for energy or to derive one or
other fuel from it. But some species provide better quality of fuel at lesser costs than other
species. Energy-from-biomass programmers are built around such species.

Food crops

At present the following of the food crops are used in different countries to produce
biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel, petrol/diesel additives):
• Sugarcane
• Corn or maize
• Soybean iv. Wheat
• Sugar beet
• Vegetable oils such as rapeseed, palm, and sunflower oils.
Food crops-to-energy programmers are under increasing scrutiny because they compete
with the use of these crops as food, thereby pushing up food prices and threatening the
existence of subsisting human beings. They also seriously degrade land and water bodies.
These aspects have been discussed in detail later in this paper.

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Hydrocarbon-rich plants

A large number of pants contain hydrocarbons in concentrations significant enough to

become a potential source of a diesel- like fuel. In just the north-eastern region of India, 99
species of such ‘lactiferous’ (latex-yielding) species have been identified [13]. Well-known
among hydrocarbon-rich plants are atrophy (seven species), and euphorbia (five species)
but the potential of several others (Table 2) has also been indicated. In these plants the
organics are generally concentrated in stem and bark; leaves carry much lower fractions of
these (Table 3).
Even as great hope is pinned by some on these plants, the negative impact of their large-
scale use is similar to that of food crops, as discussed later. [4]

Biofuels

A variety of fuels can be produced from biomass resources including liquid fuels, such as,
ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, Fischer Tropsch diesel and gasoline, and gaseous fuels, such
as hydrogen and methane. Biofuels are primarily used to fuel vehicles, but can also fuel
engines or fuel cells for electricity generation.

FUELS

Ethanol
Ethanol is most commonly made by converting the starch from corn into sugar, which is
then converted into ethanol in a fermentation process similar to brewing beer. Ethanol is
the most widely used biofuel today with 2008 capacity expected to be 12 billion gallons per
year based on starch crops, such as corn. Ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass is
currently the subject of extensive research, development and demonstration efforts.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is produced through a process in which organically derived oils are combined
with alcohol (ethanol or methanol) in the presence of a catalyst to form ethyl or methyl
ester. The biomass-derived ethyl or methyl esters can be blended with conventional diesel
fuel or used as a neat fuel (100% biodiesel). Biodiesel can be made from any vegetable oil,
animal fats, waste vegetable oils, or microalgae oils. Soybeans and Canola (rapeseed) oils
are the most common vegetable oils used today.

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Bio-oil

A totally different process than that used for biodiesel production can be used to convert
biomass into a type of fuel similar to diesel which is known as bio-oil. The process, called
fast or flash pyrolysis, occurs when heating compact solid fuels at temperatures between
350 and 500 degrees Celsius for a very short period of time (less than 2 seconds). While
there are several fast pyrolysis technologies under development, there are only two
commercial fast pyrolysis technologies as of 2008. The bio-oils currently produced are
suitable for use in boilers for electricity generation. There is currently ongoing research
and development to produce bio-oil of sufficient quality for transportation applications.

Other Hydrocarbon Biofuels

Biomass can be gasified to produce a synthesis gas composed primarily of hydrogen and
carbon monoxide, also called syngas or bio syngas. Syngas produced today is used directly
to generate heat and power but several types of biofuels may be derived from syngas.
Hydrogen can be recovered from this syngas, or it can be catalytically converted to
methanol or ethanol. The gas can also be run through a biological reactor to produce
ethanol or can also be converted using Fischer Tropsch catalyst into a liquid stream with
properties similar to diesel fuel, called Fischer Tropsch diesel. However, all of these fuels
can also be produced from natural gas using a similar process. [5]

Biomass energy wood supply

Woody biomass is an important source of energy and is currently the most important source of
Renewable energy in the world. In 2010 global use of woody biomass for energy was about 3.8
Gm3/year (30 EJ/year), which consisted of 1.9 Gm3/year (16 EJ/ year) for household fuel wood
and 1.9 Gm3/year (14 EJ/year) for large-scale industrial use. During the same period, world
primary energy consumption was 541 EJ/year and world renew- able primary energy
consumption was 71EJ/year Hence, in 2010 woody biomass formed roughly 9% of world
primary energy consumption and 65% of world renewable primary energy consumption.
Despite the widespread use of woody biomass for energy, current consumption is still
substantially below the existing resource potential. Moreover, there is plenty of surplus land
that could be converted into energy crop plantations. The estimates of available woody
biomass resources in 2050 vary in the 100–400 EJ/year range if some borderline results are
excluded If all these resources were used for energy production, they could cover 10–40% of
the world's primary energy consumption in 2050.

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Woody biomass energy potential depends not only on the available woody biomass resources
but also on the competition between alternative uses of those resources and competition
between alternative sources of energy. These effects can be separated by using the concept of
supply and demand curves. The energy wood supply curve defines the amount of woody
biomass available for large-scale energy production at various hypothetical energy wood prices,
that is, it summarizes all the relevant information from the biomass sector needed to model
large-scale energy wood use. The energy wood demand curve defines the desired amount of
woody biomass for large-scale energy production at various hypothetical energy wood prices; in
other words, it summarizes all the relevant information from the energy sector needed to
model large-scale energy wood use. Note that the term “energy wood” refers to large- scale
woody biomass use for energy. Hence, energy wood does not include small-scale woody
biomass use for energy (household fuel wood), which is modeled separately. Household fuel
wood is not directly connected to large-scale energy wood markets because it often comes
from different sources than large-scale energy wood and because its utilization is based on
technologies that are incompatible with other forms of energy.
The advantage of studying energy wood supply separately from demand is that it provides a
consistent way of analyzing woody biomass energy potential without the need for explicitly
modeling what happens in the energy sector. The energy wood supply curve defines woody
biomass energy potential for an arbitrary range of energy wood prices rather than for some
scenario-specific prices and/or quantities. As energy wood demand includes large uncertainties
associated with different technology alternatives and mitigation policy options, it makes sense
to study a large range of possible outcomes. The energy wood supply curve can be used directly
for energy policy analysis by connecting it with different energy wood demand scenarios or it
can be used as an input to the energy sector model instead of linking the energy and biomass
supply models by complicated iterative procedures.
Large unused woody biomass resources and an increasing need for climate change mitigation
has awoken policymakers' interest in woody biomass energy potential and has given rise to a
large number of studies on this topic. The majority of these studies focus on regional potentials.
The global studies are not based on explicit economic analysis they lack a detailed description
of woody biomass supply from forests or they lack a detailed description of woody biomass
supply from energy crop plantations. Hence, the existing literature misses an economic analysis
of global woody biomass energy potential, which would include a detailed description of woody
biomass supply from forests as well as from energy crop plantations in a consistent framework
with the agricultural sector. [6]

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Methods of Extracting Biomass Energy

Biomass can be converted to thermal energy, liquid, solid or gaseous fuels and other chemical
products through a variety of conversion processes. Bio power technologies are proven
electricity-generation options in the United States, with 10GW of installed capacity. All of
today's capacity is based on mature, direct-combustion technology. Future efficiency
improvements will include co-firing of biomass in existing coal-fired boilers and the introduction
of high-efficiency gasification, combined cycle systems, fuel cell systems, and modular systems.
Generally, the prominent bio power technologies are comprised of direct combustion, cofiring,
gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, and fermentation.

1. Direct Combustion
This is perhaps the simplest method of extracting energy from biomass. Industrial biomass
combustion facilities can burn many types of biomass fuel, including wood, agricultural
residues, wood pulping liquor, municipal solid waste (MSW) and refuse-derived fuel. Biomass is
burned to produce steam, the steam turns a turbine and the turbine drives a generator,

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2. Gasification
Gasification is a process that exposes a solid fuel to high temperatures and limited oxygen, to
produce a gaseous fuel. The gas produced by The mix of gases such as carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, and methane. The gas is then used to drive a high
efficiency, combined-cycle gas turbine. Gasification has several advantages over burning solid
fuel. One is convenience one of the resultant gases, methane, can be treated in a similar way as
natural gas, and used for the same purposes.

3. Pyrolysis
In its simplest form, pyrolysis represents heating the biomass to drive off the volatile matter
and leaving behind the charcoal. This process has doubled the energy density of the original
material because charcoal, which is half the weight of the original biomass, contains the same
amount of energy, making the fuel more transportable. The charcoal also burns at a much
higher temperature than the original biomass, making it more useful for manufacturing
processes.

4. Digestion
Biomass digestion works by utilizing anaerobic bacteria. These microorganisms usually live at
the bottom of swamps or in other places where there is no air, consuming dead organic matter
to produce methane and hydrogen. We put these bacteria to work for us. By feeding organic
matter such as animal dung or human sewage into tanks, called digesters, and adding bacteria,
we collect the emitted gas to use as an energy source. This process is a very efficient means of
extracting usable energy from such biomass. Usually, up to two thirds of the fuel energy of the
animal dung could be recovered. Another related technique is to collect methane gas from
landfill sites. A large proportion of household biomass waste, such as kitchen scraps, lawn
clipping and pruning, ends up at the local tip. Over a period of several decades, anaerobic
bacteria at the bottom of such tips could steadily decompose the organic matter and emit
methane. The gas can be extracted and used by capping a landfill site with an impervious layer
of clay and then inserting perforated pipes that would collect the gas and bring it to the surface.

5. Fermentation
For centuries, people have used yeasts and other microorganisms to ferment the sugar of
various plants into ethanol. Producing fuel from biomass by fermentation is just an extension of
this process, although a wider range of plant material from sugar cane to wood fiber can be
used. For instance, the waste from a wheat mill in New South Wales is used to produce ethanol
through fermentation. Ethanol is then mixed with diesel to produce diesel, a product used by
trucks and buses in Australia. [7]

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Plant power

Biomass comprises 76% of all renewable sources of energy. The carbon it contains is captured
by plants from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and released back into the atmosphere
by decay or other processes of use. Biomass is therefore a carbon-neutral source of energy. By
contrast, the carbon in fossil fuels stems from Earth's crust, so burning these fuels injects
additional carbon into the atmosphere.
Every year, plants convert 4,500 exajoules of solar energy and 125 gigatonnes of carbon from
the atmosphere into biomass an equivalent of almost 300 milliontonnes of oil per day. Most
plant material is broken down by microorganisms within the natural carbon cycle, but hundreds
of exajoules per year remain exploitable. More than 80% of the biomass used for energy comes
from forests, in the form of logs, wood chips, wood pellets, sawdust, bark and other by-
products. Just one-third of the world's 4 billion hectares of forest is used for wood production
or other commercial purposes. And those that are managed have room to grow more feedstock
than they currently do. In Sweden and Austria, for example, sustainable forests generate 4–8
cubic meters of wood per hectare per year. Simply improving forestry practices, as has been
achieved in parts of Europe, and increasing the forest area by 200 million hectares could deliver
an extra 25 exajoules of energy per year. [8]

Conclusion

Biomass is a complex natural renewable material with enormous chemical variability. Its
potential for energy production varies in relation to the process used, which may involve
elementary or highly sophisticated technologies. Since this material can be found in all
continents, its use for energy production and secondary energy products (solid, liquid, and
gaseous fuels) should be promoted and the recovery capacities of agricultural, forestry, and
industrial residues increased. Together with other renewable resources, such as solar, wind,
and hydroelectric, biomass is a major future sustainable energy resource of the planet.

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REFERENCE

[1] Ayhan Demirbaş, Biomass resource facilities and biomass conversion processing for fuels and
chemicals.: Energy conversion and Management, 2001.

[2] ENERGY, IS BIOMASS RENEWABLE. What is Biomass? [Online].

Website: http://www. aesenergy. net/biomassenergy. html. Accessed, 2016, 4.8: 09.

[3] Christopher B., J. Elliott Campbell, and David B. Lobell Field, Biomass energy: the scale of the
potential resource.: Trends in ecology & evolution, 2008.

[4] Tasneem, and S. A. Abbasi Abbasi, Biomass energy and the environmental impacts associated with its
production and utilization.: Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 2010.

[5] [Online]. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/18579916/biomass-energy-data-book-

center-for-transportation-analysis-

[6] Pekka, Petr Havlík, Georg Kindermann, Nicklas Forsell, Hannes Böttcher, and Michael Obersteiner
Lauri, Woody biomass energy potential in 2050.: Energy policy, 2014.

[7] Nisha, and Mohammad Shahidehpour Sriram, Renewable biomass energy.: In IEEE Power Engineering
Society General Meeting, 2005.

[8] Heinz Kopetz, Build a biomass energy market.: Nature 494, 2013.

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