Biomass

Energy
• Biomass is a renewable energy source that is derived from
living or Recently living Organisms.

• Biomass includes Biological Material, Not organic material

like coal

• Energy derived from biomass is mostly used to produce heat

or generate Electricity.

• Biomass can be chemically and biologically treated to

convert it to an energy Rich Fuel.

• Villages in India have been practicing this concept for ages

in form of dung cakes as source of cooking. 
 Biomass
Energy
Conversion
The Various processes used in Biomass energy
conversion can be classified as Follows  :-
 Direct Combustion
 Thermochemical Conversion
 Biochemical Conversion
Technology
•  Biomass technology today serves many markets
that were developed with fossil fuels and
modestly reduces their use

• Uses - Industrial process heat and steam,

Electrical power generation, Transportation fuels
(ethanol and biodiesel) and other products.

•  Primary focus of the Biomass Program –

development of  advanced technologies.
The Vision for Future
 According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), even if the world follows the most stringent emission
reduction pathways, we will still exhaust the global carbon budget by
2040.
 The use of biomass as a climate change mitigation measure has been
recognized and continues to be supported by the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
 Sustainably sourced biomass can displace coal 1:1, keep the lights on
when wind and solar energy are scarce and reduce carbon emissions
by 85 percent on a lifecycle basis.
 Biomass is not just a transition fuel. It also offers an energy solution
for heavy industries which require intense, uninterrupted heat and
power. 
 Biodiesel

Modified Waste Vegetable Fat

E-Diesel
Major Types of Jatropha
Biomass Energy
Gobar Gas/Biogas

Synthesis gas

Wood
Biodiesel
 Made by transforming animal fat or vegetable oil with
alcohol .

 Fuel is made from rapeseed (canola) oil or soybean oil or

recycled restaurant grease. 

 Directly substituted for diesel either as neat fuel or as an

oxygenate additive.

 The calorific value of biodiesel is higher (39-41 MJ / kg)

compared with other liquid fuels. It is lower than petrol
(46 MJ / kg), diesel (43 MJ /Kg) or oil (42 MJ / kg), but
higher than coal (32-37 MJ /Kg)
Modified Waste Vegetable fat
 Designed for general use in most compression ignition
engines .

  The production of MWVF can be achieved in a continuous

flow additive process.   

 It can be modified in various ways to make a 'greener'

form of fuel 

 This allows the mitigation of environmental pollution and

can also improve biodiesel features by increasing cetane
number and enhancing oxidative stability.
E-Diesel
 Blends of ethanol with diesel fuel are often referred to as “E-Diesel”
or “eDiesel”

 Uses additives in order to allow blending of ethanol with diesel. 

 Ethanol blends upto 5% in the diesel.

 Additives that prevent the ethanol and diesel from separating at very
low temperatures or if water contamination occurs.

 The use of e-diesel can bring some reductions in diesel PM emissions,

while its partially renewable character comes if renewable ethanol is
used as blending stock.
 Jatropha

 Indigenous to the
Madagascar Basin.

 Seeds of the Jatropha nut

is   crushed and oil is
extracted 

 The oil is processed and 

refined to form bio-
diesel.
Gobar Gas/Biogas
 Gobar gas production is an anaerobic process 

 Fermentation is carried out in an air tight, closed

cylindrical concrete tank called a digester

 Biogas is a naturally occurring and renewable

source of energy, resulting from the breakdown of
organic matter.
A Typical Biogas Plant
Synthesis Gas
 Synthesis gas (Syngas) is the generic term for raw gas produced
from feedstock hydrocarbon and consists of hydrogen (H2) and
carbon monoxide (CO) as primarily components and carbon
dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), etc. as remaining components.

 A novel use of syngas is to directly power hydrogen fuel cells;

hydrogen is simply captured from the gas, and refined for use in
fuel cells. Of course, this tends to defeat the “zero emissions”
aim of fuel cells and so is not widely used beyond research.
Wood

 Domestic heating with wood is still by far the

largest market for bio-energy 

 Dramatic improvements of technology in

domestic heating equipment 

 Improved tiled stoves, advanced logwood

boilers, woodchip boilers, pellet boilers and
pellet stoves.
 
 Pourable wood-based fuel is also available 
Biomass as Energy Source
 Bioenergy contributes more to primary global energy
supply than any other renewable energy source. 
 Total energy demand supplied from biomass in 2015 was
approximately 60 exajoules (EJ). 
 The use of biomass for energy has been growing at around
2% per year since 2010. 
 The bioenergy share in total global primary energy
consumption has remained relatively steady since 2005, at
around 10%, despite a 24% increase in overall global
energy demand between 2005 and 2015.
Biomass as Energy Source
 The annual global primary production of biomass is
equivalent to the 4,500 EJ of solar energy captured each
year. 
 At present, a bioenergy supply of 270 EJ, possible on a
sustainable basis, can cover almost 50% of the world's
total primary energy demand. 
 Moreover, this amount of bioenergy can be achieved by
only 6% of the annual global primary production of
biomass.
Contribution in Global Energy 
Environmental benefits

Extremely low emission

Reduction of waste of greenhouse gases
compared to  fossil fuels

Ethanol is Carbon neutral

Growing variety of crops
and forms a part of the
increases bio-diversity
carbon cycle
Socio-Economic Benefits

 Helps developing economies by promoting local

communities
  Increase in jobs
  Increase in trade balance (Indian perspective)
due to lesser dependence on foreign resources
Major Barriers
 Inadequate information on biomass availability 
 Absence of organized formal biomass markets 
 Problems associated with management of biomass
collection, transportation, processing and storage; problems
associated with setting up large size biomass plants 
  Non-availability of cost effective sub megawatt systems for
conversion of biomass to energy in a decentralized manner
 Lack of capability to generate bankable projects on account
of financial problems, etc.
Case Studies
Biomass based Power Project at
Kothara, Gujarat
 Kothara Biomass Power Plant is located in village Kothara, taluka Abdasa,
district Kuch. Kothara is 80 km from Bhuj, the district headquarters
 The tree species for plantation were Acacia nilotica, Prosopis juliflora,
Acacia tortillas, Eucalyptus, Subabul and Casurina. These are hardy
specimens that can survive in harsh climates, poor soils and minimal
water conditions. At the same time, they are also able to regenerate the
soil.
 once they attain specific height, are cropped or coppiced periodically for
their biomass, a sustainable resource. Biomass yields from energy
plantations usually range from 4-8 tonnes per ha per year.
 The total project cost is Rs.200 lakhs, with plant and machinery at Rs.160
lakhs and civil work at Rs.30 lakhs. The project objective is to feed a
minimum of 500 kW electric power into the grid at Kothara Sub-station. 
The Project did not sustain due to various Reasons:-
 Collection and transportation of thorny biomass from a large
geographical area

 Poor quality of the local grid

 Constrains due to dual-fuel mode, particularly 30% of the diesel

cost and certain logical problems of organising it to the site

 Miss-match of the existing load and installed capacity.

Kasai Village electrification with 100%
biomass 
 Kasai is a remote tribal village in the Betul District of Madhya Pradesh
in India. In Madhya Pradesh, eleven such villages were selected to
electrify using biomass gasifier system under the electrification
programme of the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources
(MNES).

 Participation of the local community was ensured after detailed group

discussions at the initial stages of the project.Community
participation in overall system management.

 A 10 kWe 100% biomass based power generation project was executed

in May 2005 and commissioned within two months by the local
Forestry Department.
Benefits of the project
 Lighting of households, school, and streets.

 Bring music systems and television into the village for entertainment.

 10 ha of land around the village is planted with fast growth species to

ensure
sustainable biomass supply.

  Oil expellers to produce bio-oil from Jatropha seeds is under planning

stage.

  Flour mill, water pump, milk chilling units are also being planned
Thank You