"Understanding the Future of Sustainable
Energy"
Electric Power
Carbon Sequestration
Wind
Solar
Hydro
Natural Gas
Integrated Solar Energy
Biomass
Conversion Efficiency
Nuclear
Biomass
Biomass electric generation can be very attractive, depending on the biomass
used. Growing biomass for energy generation utilizes suitable
agricultural land as well as agricultural products for energy instead of
food. Energy crops requires huge amount of land, fertilizer and water.
In fact, there is not enough land to grow sufficient biomass to meet the
U.S. energy demand. Energy crops can have adverse affects on water and
food water supplies around the world.
Spurred by the increasing use of corn for ethanol, tortilla prices in
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=59&ItemID=12030
For another good article see-
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=biofuels&id=18173&a=
Electric generation from aerobically digesting biomass waste in the
form of sewage or agricultural residues can be very attractive. Such
biomass can be converted to methane for dispatchable electric power
generation. Waste that must be treated or composted can be aerobically
digested to generate useful methane without consuming the nutrients (used
for re-growth/compost) within the waste. Useful product from biomass
anaerobic power generation is electricity and compost in a completely
carbon neutral fashion. Electricity can be generated cost effectively
from biomass waste if disposal charges of the waste are made and compost is
sold along with the electricity. The resource is limited, but should
be used to the extent possible!
Biomass electric generation is attractive if done correctly. However, biomass electric generation must be considered critically as some biomass electric generation can be very detrimental to the environment and can impact society food resources.
Header: A Central Park landscape (Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park)