Chapter-3

Renewable Energy Sources (14 hours)

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 3. Renewable Energy
Sources (14 hours)
 3.4. Geothermal Energy
 3.4.1. Sources of Geothermal Energy
 3.4.2. Uses of Geothermal Energy

 3.5. Bio-mass and Bio-energy

 3.5.1. Synthetic fuels from the biomass
 3.5.2. Thermo-chemical, physio-chemical and
bio-chemical conversion
 3.5.3. Bio-fuel cells

 3.6. Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell

 3.6.1. Basics of electrochemistry
 3.6.2. Polymer membrane electrolyte (PEM) fuel
cells
 3.6.3. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs)
 3.6.4. Hydrogen production and storage
 3.6.5. Coal-fired plants and integrated gasifier fuel 2
cell (IGFC) systems
Bio-mass and Bio-energy

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 3.5. Bio-mass and Bio-
energy
 3.5.1. Synthetic fuels
from the biomass
 3.5.2. Thermo-chemical,
physio-chemical and
bio-chemical conversion
 3.5.3. Bio-fuel cells

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What is
Biomass?
 Biomass is any organic
matter that is alive or
recently dead.
 Including trees, plants,
plant fiber, and animal
wastes.
 Biomass is a renewable
energy source

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What is Bioenergy?

The Energy Stored In Bioenergy Is Very Many Bioenergy Sources

Biomass Is Called Versatile: It Can Be Used Are Replenished Through
Bioenergy. To Provide Heat, Make The Cultivation Of Fast
Fuels, And Generate Growing Grasses, Trees,
Electricity. And Agricultural Residues
Like Vegetable Oils,
Wheat Straw, Or Corn.

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How Much The United States has enough land and agricultural
networks to sustainably replace half of the nation’s
Biomass is gasoline use or all of its nuclear energy.
Millions of tons of unused agricultural waste, manure,
Out There? and sawdust has the potential to generate energy.

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 Biomass Sources

Every year, the In addition, the forest Energy crops, such as

agricultural industry products industry also willows and switch
produces millions of produces countless grass can be grown for
tons of waste that tons of waste that can the specific purpose of
could be utilized for be used as an energy energy production.
energy production. source.

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Biomass Sources
In the Midwest, farmers grow corn and
soybeans that can be used for ethanol
production
In the Southeast, hybrid willow trees have
been used as an energy crop.
In the Northwest and Northeast, the forest
products industry uses its wastes and
residues to make electricity and heat for its
own operations.

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 Biochemical Platform
(Sugar)

Biogas Platform Combined

Biomass (Anaerobic Digestion) Heat & Power,
Feedstock Fuels,
Thermochemical Chemicals,
Platform and Materials
• Pyrolysis
• Gasification

Carbon Rich Chains

Platform (Biodiesel)

Conversion Technologies

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Biomass Technology
in Nepal
Metallic Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS)
◦ Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC)
has been promoting Metallic Improved
Cooking Stoves (MICS) since 2009 under
Biomass Energy Support Programme.
◦ The main objective of this programme is to
address dual purpose of simultaneous Cooking
as well as Space heating need of people living
in remote high hills of Nepal.

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 Mud ICS
• Improved cook stoves (ICS) particularly
mud-brick ICS with and without
chimney is one of the most simple,
inexpensive and widely used
technologies designed to improve
combustion efficiency of biomass and
reduce exposure to indoor air pollution.
• The benefits of ICS includes: increased
thermal efficiency, conservation of
forests by reducing fuel wood
consumption, reduction in women's'
drudgery, reduction in indoor air
pollution and hence smoke-related
health disorders, and prevention of fire
hazards.

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Others ICS
• Institutional ICS
• Used in hotels, hospitals, hostels,
barracks, teashops, restaurants,
small scale industries like wool
dyeing, daalmoth (snacks) factory
etc.

• Rocket Stoves
• A rocket stove is an efficient
cooking stove using small diameter
wood fuel which is burned in a
simple high-temperature
combustion chamber containing an
insulated vertical elbo which
ensures complete combustion prior
to the flames reaching the cooking
surface.

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Biomass densification

Briquetting Is Densification Of Biomass So As To The Efficiency Of Briquette Stove Can Be As High As

Improve Its Combustion Efficiency And Make 26 Percent Compared To A Traditional Stove Which
Handling More Convenient. Has Efficiency Of 12 Percent Or Less (WECS, 1985).

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 Rice Husk Briquette

 Rice husk briquette was introduced in Nepal in 1982

and these briquettes are commercially available.
 Briquettes are produced by compacting rice husk by
a screw through a die that is heated to 300° C.
 The briquettes are cylindrical in shape and a hole in
the middle facilitates airflow. It has a calorific value
of 4000 kcal/kg and can be burned in ordinary or air
induced stoves.

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Beehive Briquettes
Beehive briquettes utilize low value loose
biomass such as agricultural and forest
residue, which are normally difficult to
handle and give low thermal efficiency.
The process involves partial carbonization of
biomass in a Charring Drum, mixing of char
with 20 to 30 percent bentonite clay,
followed by compaction in a steel mould.
The briquettes are cylindrical in shape with a
diameter of 13 cm and height of 9 cm and
have 19 holes.

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Biocoal Briquette
Biocoal Briquette Is A Composite Fuel Of
Biomass And Coal With Different
Proportion Of Biomass Ranging From 10 To
80 Percent.

Initial experiments have been successful

but some more research and development
is required before the technology becomes
commercially viable.

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Biomass Gasification

Biomass gasification is a thermo chemical process where

solid biomass such as wood, wood waste and agricultural
residue, is converted into combustible gas mixture.
The resulting gas, known as “producer gas,” contains CO
(15 to 29%), CO2 (5-15%), H2 (5-12%), N2 (50-65%) and
small amounts of hydrocarbon gases.
The producer gas, which has a calorific value of 1200 to
1500 kcal/m3, can be combusted for thermal energy or
used to operate gas turbines or internal combustion engine
for mechanical and electrical power.
Gasifiers are used in many parts of the world for various
purposes such as cooking, power generation, heating and
cremation

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  In Nepal, a successful piloting on thermal base Tea
processing Gasifier was conducted by AEPC for
drying tea leaves in Ilam districts, which perform
very well and still in operation.
Gasification  The unit was developed with technical assistance

in Nepal from IOE, Pulchowk.

 AEPC is taking initiation to promote, commercialize
and scale up gasifire technology in potential area of
Nepal under National Rural and Renewable
Programme (NRREP).

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Biogas Technology
(Waste to Energy)
 Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion or
fermentation or decomposition of organic
wastes by the action of methanogenic bacteria.

 It is composed of 50-70% methane, 30-45%

carbon dioxide, 1% H2S, 0.1%N2, 0.1% O2,
0.1% H2 and some other gases.

 During digestion about 25-30 % of the dry

matter of waste is converted into a combustible
gas and residue of 70-75 % of the total solids
content comes out as sludge which is known as
slurry.

 The energy content of biogas is 6-6.5 KWh/m3,

and the ignition temperature is 650-750 o C.

 This energy allows biogas to be used as a fuel

for any heating purpose, such as cooking.

 It can also be used in a gas engine to convert

the energy in the gas into electricity. Biogas can
be compressed, much like natural gas and used
to power motor vehicles.

 This gas is about 20 percent lighter than the air

which is odorless and burns with clear blue
flame similar to that of Liquefied Petroleum
Gas (LPG).

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 Biogas Technology
(Waste to Energy)

• The Manure of domestic animals

(oxen and cows, buffaloes etc),
human waste/excreta are the
primary feeding material/source for
this biogas system.
• The slurry as a by-product of this
system is being more effective on
organic and sustainable productions
in Nepal. The proper use of which is
replacing the use of chemical
fertilizer which ultimately has saved
money and maintained the clean and
green surroundings/environment.
• GoN has been promoting biogas
plants of different capacity under
this system, such as 2cu m, 4cu m,
6cu m and 8cu m plants fall under
this category.

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 The term biofuel is referred to as liquid or gaseous fuels that are produced from
biomass.

A variety of biofuel can be produced from biomass resources including liquid fuels,
such as ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, Fischer-Tropsuch diesel; and gaseous fuel, such
as hydrogen and methane.

Liquid biofuel is primarily used to fuel vehicles, fuel engine or fuel cell for electric
generation.

Biofuel
It can also be used for lighting and cooking proposes by using lamps and cooking
stoves.

There are several reasons for biofuel to be considered as relevant technologies by both
developing and developed country. They include energy security region, environmental
concern, foreign exchange saving, and socioeconomic issues related to the rural sector.

Advantages of biofuel are the followings: a) biofuel is easily available from common
biomass sources (b) biofuel has considerable environmental friendliness potential (c)
there are many benefits to the environment, economy and consumers in using biofuel,
and (d) they are biodegradable and contribute to sustainability.

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Biofuel

 Biofuel can be produced in two ways.

 First, by growing high in sugar or starch
rich crops and ferment it to produce
ethanol.
 Second, by growing plants such as oil
palm, soybean, algae, or Jatropha those
containing high amounts of vegetable oil
and converting it to biodiesel.
 The major sources of bio-diesel and
bio-ethanol are given in the chart.

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Environmental
Benefits of
Biomass

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No Net Increase In
Carbon Dioxide

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The Burning Of Fossil Fuels Releases
Carbon Dioxide Captured By
Photosynthesis Millions Of Years Ago.
In Contrast, Carbon Dioxide Released This results in a far less net impact on
Through The Consumption Of Biomass greenhouse gas levels.
Is Balanced By Carbon Dioxide
Captured In The Recent Growth Of
Biomass
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  Use of waste that would normally go to
landfills. An estimated 350 million tons of
waste that goes to landfills could be used for
Environmental energy production
Benefits  Encourages the preservation of agricultural
land that would otherwise be sold for
(cont.) development.
 Encourages sustainable agricultural
techniques for bioenergy crops.

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  The subsidy is applicable to GGC
(Gobar Gas Company) 2047
Biomass and The Model, the GGC 2047 modified
model and other latest efficient
National Energy models of various capacities to
Policy serve the homes, public
institutions, commercial
enterprises and communities.

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Dept. of Energy Biomass
Program

The Biomass Program operated by the US Dept. of

Energy develops technology for conversion of biomass to
valuable fuels, chemicals, materials, and power.

One of the main purposes of the program is to reduce US

dependence on foreign oil and to reduce greenhouse
emissions.

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Biofuels For
Transportation

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 Biofuels
 Biomass is one of the few
renewable sources for
transportation fuels
 Biofuels produce fewer
emissions than petroleum
fuels
 The two main types of
biofuels are ethanol and
biodiesel

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 Ethanol
 Also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol.
 Ethanol is made from the starch in certain grains, such as
wheat, corn, or corn byproducts.
 Ethanol production usually begins with the grinding up
of biomass such as wheat or corn.
 Once ground up, the starch or cellulose is converted into
sugar.
 The sugar is then fed into microbes that use it for food,
producing ethanol in the process.

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Ethanol Production

The US Ethanol Industry Produced As states continue to ban the use of As a result, efforts to increase the
More Than 3.3 Billion Gallons Of MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl supply are necessary to keep up with
Ethanol In 2004, Up From 2.8 Ether) for use in gasoline, ethanol demand.
Billion Gallons In 2003. consumption will continue to rise.

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New Ethanol Technologies
Currently, research is being conducted for making ethanol
from the cellulose (fiber) component in biomass, like
municipal solid wastes and agricultural residues.

This type of ethanol is called bioethanol.

The use of bioethanol reduces the emission of carbon

monoxide and hydrocarbons.

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Ethanol Uses
Each year, the US blends
more than 1.5 billion
gallons of ethanol with
gasoline to improve
vehicle performance and
reduce air pollution

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 Most gasoline blends contain about 10
percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.
All vehicles are equipped to handle this
Ethanol Uses mixture.
(Cont.) Such a mixture reduces greenhouse gases by
up to 4 percent.

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 Fuel containing 85 percent gasoline
and 15 percent ethanol can be
used in flexible fuel vehicles.

The use of E85 fuel reduces the

E85 Fuel emission of greenhouse gases by
up to 37 percent.

E85 is considered an alternative

fuel under the Energy Policy Act of
1992.

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 Vehicles that run on E85 are called Flexible Fuel
Vehicles (FFV).
Many vehicle manufacturers offer FFVs.

E85 Fuel Ford, GM, Chrysler, and Mercedes all offer FFVs.
Each year car makers produce more than 700,000
flexible fuel vehicles.

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Examples of FFVs
Many popular SUV’s and luxury vehicles can use
E85 fuel with little or no additional cost.

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 E85 Benefits

 E85 is easy to use and handle- Fueling equipment for E85 is only slightly
different then equipment used for petroleum.
 Reduces Petroleum Consumption- Using E85 reduces dependence on
foreign oil markets.
 Environmental Benefits- E85 reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 37
percent.
 FFVs are available and affordable.

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Various interest groups throughout the state and country are
actively involved in promoting the benefits of ethanol

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Biodiesel
 Biodiesel is a domestically produced renewable fuel that can be made
from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled restaurant greases.

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 Dr. Rudolf Diesel actually invented the
diesel engine to run on a myriad of fuels
including vegetable oil.

In 1911, He stated: “the diesel engine can

History of be fed with vegetable oils and would help
Biodiesel considerably in the development of
agriculture of the countries which use it.”

He added: “the use of vegetable oils for

engine fuels may seem insignificant today
but such oils may become in course of
time as important as petroleum and the
coal tar products of the present time.”

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Benefits of Biodiesel
 A 2001 study completed by the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture found that an average annual
increase of 200 million gallons of soya based
biodiesel demand would boost total crop cash
receipts by $5.2 billion by 2010.
 The same increase in consumption would
increase the price for a bushel of soybeans by
17 cents.

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Biodiesel Today
Like ethanol, biodiesel is primarily used as a fuel blend.
Most diesel blends are comprised of 20 percent
biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.

No additional modifications need to be added to a

vehicle that runs on this biodiesel mixture.

In addition, higher blends, even pure biodiesel can be

used in many engines built since 1994 with little or no
modifications.

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  Fats and oils are chemically reacted with
methanol to produce chemical compounds
How is known as fatty acid methyl esters.
Biodiesel  Biodiesel is the name given these esters
when they’re intended for use as a fuel.
Made?
 Currently, there is enough feedstock to
supply 1.9 billion gallons of biodiesel.

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Biodiesel Production
MUCH OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL IS ALREADY IN PLACE.

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Emissions From Biodiesel Vehicles
Emission B100 B20

Carbon Monoxide -47% -12%

Hydrocarbons -67% -20%

Particulates -48% -12%

Nitrogen Oxides +10% +2%

Air Toxics -60%-90% -12%-20%

Mutagenicity -80%-90% -20%

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 On September 14, 2004
Governor Blagojevich gave
19 school districts in Illinois
grants for clean school
Illinois Clean buses.
School Bus
Grants
These grants funded a total
of 114 school buses that
will use biodiesel fuel.

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 The Environmental Protection Agency
offers grants to school districts
throughout the United States to
encourage the use of biodiesel.

EPA Clean The Olympia School District in Illinois

School Bus received such a grant in 2002.
Currently, all 33 of its buses use
Grants biodiesel fuel.

The buses in Olympia School District

travel more than 600,000 miles per
year.

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 Biopower is the process of using
biomass (plant and organic matter) to
generate electricity.

Biomass has been used for lighting,

Biopower cooking, and heating ever since humans
first discovered fire.

Today, hundreds of US power plants use

biomass resources to produce 65 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.

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 Biomass is the single largest source of non-
hydro renewable electricity.
The majority of electricity produced from
biomass is used as base load power in the
Biopower existing electrical distribution system.
More than 200 companies generate biomass
power in the U.S.

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Biopower
The wood and paper
industries generate and
use about two-thirds of
this power.
Biomass is the single
largest source of non-
hydro renewable
electricity.

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Environmental
Benefits of
Biopower ALTHOUGH BIOPOWER PRODUCTION
RESULTS IN INCREASED PARTICULATE
EMISSIONS, THEY ARE CLEANER THAN
COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS BECAUSE
THEY DO NOT RELEASE SULFUR
DIOXIDE.
ADDITIONALLY, BIOENERGY SYSTEMS
ARE CARBON DIOXIDE NEUTRAL
BECAUSE THE PLANT MATERIAL
ABSORBS AS MUCH CARBON DIOXIDE
DURING ITS LIFE AS RELEASED WHEN IT
IS BURNED TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY.
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Types of There are three different types of biopower
Biopower systems: direct-fire, co-firing, and
gasification.
systems

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 Direct-Fire

DIRECT FIRING INVOLVES BURNING
BIOMASS DIRECTLY TO PRODUCE
STEAM. THIS STEAM IS THEN
CAPTURED AND DIRECTED TO SPIN A
TURBINE THAT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY.
THIS SYSTEM IS VERY SIMILAR TO MOST OF TODAY’S BIOPOWER PLANTS
CONVENTIONAL POWER PRODUCTION USE A DIRECT COMBUSTION SYSTEM
THAT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY.

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Direct –
fire
plant

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Co-Firing

Co-firing is similar to direct firing except for the fact

that biomass materials are burned in combination with
a fossil fuel, most often coal, in a high efficiency boiler.

Utility companies use this approach to reduce overall

air pollution emissions, most notably sulfur dioxide.

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 Gasification systems are quite different from
the other two methods.

Gasification involves using high temperatures

in an oxygen starved environment to convert
Gasification biomass into a gas.

This gas can then be used to fuel a combined-

cycle gas turbine.

Gasification is the preferred method given that

combined gas-turbines are the most efficient
of all power conversion technologies.

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Gasification
Plant

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 Bioenergy is generally cost competitive with
fossil fuel generated electricity when biomass
residue prices are very low or negative.
Future Transportation costs are key to the price so
Prospects of biomass power plants must be sited near an
ongoing, reliable biomass source.
Bioenergy
Most analysts believe that the economics of
bioenergy will improve with higher
efficiencies.

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Biorefinery
A biorefinery is a facility that breaks down biomass into fuels, power,
and chemicals than can be used for human use.
By producing many different products, a biorefinery can take advantage
of the differences in biomass components and maximize the value
derived from biomass.

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Biorefinery
Concept

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Biorefinery
To be cost effective, a biorefinery would have
to be located near a specific biomass resource,
like a cornfield.

Biorefineries are closely modeled after

petroleum refineries. A lot of the technology
for an efficient biorefinery has already been
developed.

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Biobased Products

BIOMASS CAN ALSO BE USED TO ANY PRODUCT THAT WE CAN MAKE MOREOVER, BIOBASED PRODUCTS
MAKE EVERYDAY PRODUCTS THAT FROM FOSSIL FUELS CAN BE MOST OFTEN REQUIRE LESS
ARE USUALLY PRODUCED USING IDENTICALLY MADE FROM ENERGY TO PRODUCE THAN
FOSSIL FUELS BIOMASS. PETROLEUM BASED PRODUCTS.

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 The U.S. already produces more than 300
billion pounds of biobased products each
year, not including food.

Examples of biobased products include:

Biobased plastics, cleaning products, natural fibers,
Products natural structural materials, and industrial
chemicals.

Biorefineries can be used to produce a

variety of products that can be made from
biomass. As a result, many people predict
that biorefineries could become
commonplace.

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Biobased Products
DuPont has recently developed a biobased method that uses corn
instead of petroleum based processes to produce a polymer platform
for use in clothing, carpets, and automobile interiors.
Additionally, Cargill Dow has a biorefinery in Blair, Nebraska that is
currently producing polymers from corn sugar.

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Local Biomass Initiatives
The Great Lakes Biomass State Regional Partnership consists of Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
The Partnership was established by the Dept. of Energy and is designed
to encourage greater production and use of biomass for energy
generation.

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The Great Lakes Biomass State
Regional Partnership
A grant is awarded annually to each state in the partnership to promote
the use of biomass and retain a project leader knowledgeable about
biomass energy on the staff of each state energy office.
These state offices perform resource assessments, demonstration
projects, and provide technical assistance.

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Biomass and the Future
More research is being conducted to improving
technologies for making electricity and fuels from
biomass.
Some oil companies and petrochemical industries
have begun to explore biomass energy.
The biggest challenge is the cost of bioenergy: As
long as fossil fuels remain cheaper than bioenergy,
people will be hesitant to invest in this technology.

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Biomass and the Future
The ability to cost effectively collect, store, and
transport biomass presents many challenges.
Infrastructure will have to be built to ensure a
safe and efficient supply system for biomass.
Currently, the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory is conducting R&D in
how to develop infrastructure for biomass energy.

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