What about BioMass
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Peaked2Soon
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- Joined: 24 Nov 2005, 11:09
What about BioMass
What about BioMass, just planting a quick growing crop and then burning it to produce electricity???
It'll be life, but not as we know it.
Know a little about this because my dissertation was on the visual impact of biomass as an alternative to agricultural food production.
Biomass tends marketed as 'carbon neutral' energy. This is true insofar as the carbon that is absorbed by the plants (usually salix or miscanthus hybrids bred specifically for fast growth and coppiced every 3-7yrs) is released when they are burned/gasified etc.
However, this simplifies the process a bit and does not take into acocunt the fuel needed to intensivley plant and harvest them, the fertiliser inputs etc. and bulk transport of the materials to e.g. biomass power plants. I think that for them to be economical, the power plant needs to be within 50miles of the source, but don't quote me on that, and obviously that's assuming cheap oil.
There are a number of test plots, and there were some experimental sites in Yorkshire - I'm not sure what the outcome was but had heard that farmers started ripping them out because they weren't making any money (and their land drains were being destroyed by the vigourous root systems). Also in this country harvesting is an issue - in northern european countries where biomass is fairly well developed, the ground is frozen solid for most of the winter, when harvesting takes place. However, in the UK it isn't - the ground is soft and muddy, which means that the root stocks are damaged by machines driving over them and productivity drops significantly.
Could go on for ever and a day, but it's all based on knowledge picked up three years ago and (sketchily) remembered. I'm sure there will have been massive leaps or setbacks in the time since I read up on them.
Try these links....
http://www.esdbiomass.co.uk/
http://www.r-p-a.org.uk/portal_group_view.fcm?groupid=1
Do a search for SRC or Short Rotation Coppice, which was the most popular method in our climate.
Biomass tends marketed as 'carbon neutral' energy. This is true insofar as the carbon that is absorbed by the plants (usually salix or miscanthus hybrids bred specifically for fast growth and coppiced every 3-7yrs) is released when they are burned/gasified etc.
However, this simplifies the process a bit and does not take into acocunt the fuel needed to intensivley plant and harvest them, the fertiliser inputs etc. and bulk transport of the materials to e.g. biomass power plants. I think that for them to be economical, the power plant needs to be within 50miles of the source, but don't quote me on that, and obviously that's assuming cheap oil.
There are a number of test plots, and there were some experimental sites in Yorkshire - I'm not sure what the outcome was but had heard that farmers started ripping them out because they weren't making any money (and their land drains were being destroyed by the vigourous root systems). Also in this country harvesting is an issue - in northern european countries where biomass is fairly well developed, the ground is frozen solid for most of the winter, when harvesting takes place. However, in the UK it isn't - the ground is soft and muddy, which means that the root stocks are damaged by machines driving over them and productivity drops significantly.
Could go on for ever and a day, but it's all based on knowledge picked up three years ago and (sketchily) remembered. I'm sure there will have been massive leaps or setbacks in the time since I read up on them.
Try these links....
http://www.esdbiomass.co.uk/
http://www.r-p-a.org.uk/portal_group_view.fcm?groupid=1
Do a search for SRC or Short Rotation Coppice, which was the most popular method in our climate.