Biopower is second only to hydropower in the U.S. in terms of electricity generated from renewable energy.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bioenergy is renewable energy derived from biomass, or biological sources. This bioenergy may be in the form of biofuels for vehicles, such as ethanol, 0r biopower to be used for generating heat or electricity.

As outlined by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, biopower generally falls into one of five categories:

1) Direct-fired systems. Feedstocks are burned to create steam that drives a turbine. This turbine turns a generator that creates electricity. Waste wood products are the most common feedstocks burned.

2) Co-firing. Biomass is mixed with fossil fuels (i.e., coal) in conventional power plants, so as to help reduce emissions.

3) Gasification. High temps and an oxygen-starved environment convert biomass into synthesis gas that can be chemically converted into other fuels or products, burned in a conventional boiler, or used instead of natural gas in a gas turbine.

4) Pyrolysis. Biomass is converted to a pyrolysis oil that can be burned to generate electricity or used as a chemical source for making fuels, plastics, adhesives, or other bioproducts.

5) Anaerobic conditions. Methane gas is captured from biomass in landfills and burned to create electricity-generating steam.

Surprisingly, biopower is second only to hydropower in the U.S. in terms of electricity generated via renewable sources. That’s right, both biopower and hydropower are more prevalent here than solar or wind.

What does the future of biopower hold?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy:

“Producing electricity from biomass is most cost effective if biomass power or biopower plants are located near biomass feedstocks. Biomass resources are abundant across the eastern half of the United States, and thus, the majority of operating biomass power plants are located there. The future use of dedicated feedstock crops can broaden the resource availability to all regions with agricultural production activity.”

Beyond that, the U.N.’s IPCC predicts bioenergy will be among six renewable energy sources providing 77 percent of global power by 2050.

SOURCES

U.S. Department of Agriculture

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

U.S. Department of Energy

Meredith Simonds Biopower anaerobic, bioenergy, Biofuels, biopower, co-firing, direct-firing systems, ethanol, gasification, Landfills, pyrolosis