Fortunately, new technologies — including pollution controls and combustion engineering — have advanced to the point that any emissions from burning biomass in industrial facilities are generally less than emissions produced when using fossil fuels coal, natural gas, oil. ReEnergy has included these technologies in our facilities. While the process to create electricity is similar whether using a biomass fuel or a fossil fuel, the equipment needed inside the plant is different.
As with any electrical generation process, the facility needs a steady supply of fuel. In all cases, ReEnergy has suppliers to deliver a steady stream of biomass, and has engaged other suppliers to ensure the facilities have what they need.
In addition, we create fuel for other biomass consumers — as well as other products — at our recycling facilities. When anything is burned, it can create emissions and ash. Our facilities have state-of-the-art cleaning processes that keep emissions below state regulatory levels, and we reuse our ash. Biomass contains stored energy. That's because plants absorb energy from the sun through the process of photosynthesis.
When biomass is burned, this stored energy is released as heat. Burning biomass releases carbon dioxide. However, plants also take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and use it to grow their leaves, flowers, branches, and stems. The use of biomass energy has the potential to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Burning biomass releases about the same amount of carbon dioxide as burning fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels release carbon dioxide captured by photosynthesis millions of years ago—an essentially "new" greenhouse gas. Biomass, on the other hand, releases carbon dioxide that is largely balanced by the carbon dioxide captured in its own growth depending how much energy was used to grow, harvest, and process the fuel.
However, studies have found that clearing forests to grow biomass results in a carbon penalty that takes decades to recoup, so it is best if biomass is grown on previously cleared land, such as under-utilized farmland.
The use of biomass can reduce dependence on foreign oil because biofuels are the only renewable liquid transportation fuels available. Zutshi, S. Beaugez, M. Hendrikx, S. Heydt, M. Oeltjenbruns, A. Munoraharjo, F. Choudhury, G. Upton, O. Siudak, M. Gunther, R. Balancing Biomass The Union of Concerned Scientists helped develop A Balanced Definition of Renewable Biomass , which are practical and effective sustainability provisions that can provide a measure of assurance that woody biomass harvests will be sustainable.
The Joseph C. McNeil Generating Station uses wood from low-quality trees and harvest residue, and produces about 50 megawatts of electricityalmost enough to sustain Burlington, Vermont's largest city. Fowl Play The 3 million chickens of the enormous Beijing Deqingyuan chicken farm, outside Beijing, China, produce tons of manure and tons of wastewater each day.
Using gasification technology from GE Energy, the farm is able to convert chicken manure into 14, megawatt-hours of electricity per year. World's Top Biofuel Crops 1. Gas molecules are in constant, random motion. Also called a primeval forest, primary forest, primal forest, or ancient woodland. Peat can be dried and burned as fuel. Pesticides can be fungicides which kill harmful fungi , insecticides which kill harmful insects , herbicides which kill harmful plants , or rodenticides which kill harmful rodents.
Also called biocrude or bio-oil. Seaweed can be composed of brown, green, or red algae, as well as "blue-green algae," which is actually bacteria. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.
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If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. Plants are autotrophs, which means they produce their own food.
They use the process of photosynthesis to transform water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide into oxygen, and simple sugars that the plant uses as fuel. These primary producers form the base of an ecosystem and fuel the next trophic levels. Without this process, life on Earth as we know it would not be possible. We depend on plants for oxygen production and food.
Learn more about this vital process with these classroom resources. However, over time, there has been a shift in demand for cheaper and cleaner fuel options, such as the nonrenewable energy source of natural gas, and renewable options like solar power and wind energy. Each energy resource has its advantages and disadvantages. Explore nonrenewable and renewable options with this collection on energy resources.
Non-renewable energy comes from sources that will eventually run out, such as oil and coal. Renewable energy comes from sources that will not be used up in our lifetimes, such as the sun and wind. Learn how biomass is converted into clean, renewable transportation fuels to power our cars, trucks, planes, and trains.
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