Biomass as an Alternative Energy and the Benefits

The oil crisis and world overdependence on fossil fuels have paved the way for new developments in alternative energy sources. One of these alternative sources is biomass, which certainly has the potential of being considered a good substitute for fossil fuel. Seeds of fortune are often planted in the throes of a crisis. Biomass may just be that seed of fortune you are looking for.

Biomass is a natural and renewable energy source that is derived from recently dead biological matter and is used as a bio-fuel. It usually comes from plants, but it also comes from animal matter and other agricultural biodegradable waste. Examples of plants that can be used as biomass are corn, sugar cane, wheat, and switchgrass. Waste matter from plants like coconut husks, rice hulls, and bagasse (waste from sugar cane) are also examples of biomass.

Biomass works like this. It is burned to produce heat that makes hot water, which then produces steam that can power turbines. Since biomass is also carbon-based like traditional fossil fuel, it has a comparable burning rate that makes it suitable as an energy source for small-scale power generation. But unlike fossil fuels, biomass absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during its growing lifetime.

Biomass has become a popular alternative source of energy in farming areas and other areas where there is a huge amount of agricultural waste. Farmers have used biomass to power their equipment and for post-harvest processing of agricultural crops.

As an energy source, biomass has many applications depending on the type of material used, the location, and the processing that it has to undergo to make it usable. The simplest biomass application is agricultural fertilizers. Biomass materials can also be used for fiber or building material. Further chemical processing, such as hydrogenation, can produce a biomass that makes it a suitable fuel source. Biomass is also sometimes used for space heating applications.

Some environmentalists argue that biomass is part of the carbon cycle and as such emits greenhouse gases that contribute to global warning. That said, biomass emits 50% less than emissions from burning fossil fuel. Furthermore, the disadvantage of having carbon dioxide emission can be offset by the fact that biomass is often sourced from recycled waste materials, therefore significantly reducing solid waste. This helps to classify it as an efficient and cost-effective energy source.

In addition to this environmental concern, biomass raises another critical issue in the food vs. fuel debate. Some argue that using biomass for energy instead of using it as an edible food is unconscionable. This argument has been magnified by the more recent oil and food price crises, where critics point out that biomass could have helped create or at least magnify the rising cost of food staples. However, some studies suggest the amount of crops that go to bio-fuel production may not be significant enough to tip the food demand.

The Future of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is considered as the 3rd or 4th most important source of renewable energy in the world, behind solar, wind, hydro, biomass, wave, and tidal energy. As of now, it accounts for only a small portion of the world’s total power capacity.

However, expert analysts predict things could change much sooner due to the rise of geothermal plants with great technological advancements.

How is the Future of Geothermal Energy?

The future of geothermal energy can be summed up with a single word: Bright

Yes. The future of geothermal energy looks very bright and for a number of reasons.

Limited Supply of Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas are only available in a limited supply, which means that the supply is gradually reducing. The future is certainly dim for fossil fuels and from the look of things, renewable energy sources like geothermal energy might end up replacing non-renewable fuel sources in a few years to come.

Advanced Technology

The supply of geothermal energy is currently low but with advanced technology, we can only expect to use it more alongside other renewable sources. More plants are now utilizing highly advanced technology to increase drilling efficiency which allows more energy from the underground to be capture.

Engineers have also devised and greatly improved Binary Cycle plants that are designed to release no emissions except water vapor, unlike traditional plants that drill dry steam that emits greenhouse gases.

Instead of tapping dry steam directly from the hydrothermal convection zone, binary plants are instead designed to create a closed loop system where hot water runs through a heat exchanger that in turn heats up another liquid like isobutene, which boils at a much lower temperature compared to water.

The isobutene is then used to run the generator while hot water is sent back to the underground. This technology is not only aimed at eliminating greenhouse gases, but also to prevent steam from escaping.

Thanks to technological improvements, geothermal energy will also become cheap. Actually, the Union of Concerned Scientists has revealed that since 1980, the cost of operating geothermal power plants has significantly reduced by as much as 50 percent.

The Rise of Enhanced Geothermal Systems

One of the reasons why geothermal energy accounts for just a small part of the world’s power capacity is that this energy can only be sourced in areas where the earth’s tectonic plates are close to the surface, such that the heat that builds up is easily released.

This is one of the biggest challenges facing geothermal energy production but thanks to technological improvements, plans to create Enhanced Geothermal Systems are underway. Using this technology, water will be injected in the earth’s underground, particularly in hot and dry rock areas.

This is a smart way of producing geothermal energy through smart artificial means. Once this becomes a reality, geothermal energy use will become widespread and therefore cheap and available to most people.

From the look of things, geothermal energy holds some serious potential. It could be the next big thing in the energy industry in a few years to come.

Furthermore, besides being a renewable energy source, it does not have any negative effects on the environment. With technology improvements, we can finally look forward to a clean energy future.

How Nuclear Power Work and Nuclear Hazards to The Environment

Nuclear power technology is widely used for generation of electricity. Developed countries like France, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland generate more than 30% of their total electric power by using a variety of atomic reactors.

How does it work?

Scientists have long operated the procedure of fission where an atom ruptures into two smaller parts. This occurs by human manipulation as well as naturally. The natural incidence takes a long period of time, but scientists now can make the process faster through induce fission.

The most common element used for nuclear fission is Uranium. For Uranium to undergo fission naturally, millions of years must pass. Uranium has a half-life or the amount of time it takes Uranium to lose half of its mass, of 4.5 billion years.

Uranium occurs naturally in three forms. These three forms are Uranium-238, -235, and -234. All three undergo natural fission when radioactive decay sets in, but scientists have found that they can induce fission when using Uranium-235.

When decaying, Uranium emits alpha particles, which contain two protons and neutrons. These alpha particles break off from the nucleus. When fission is induced, scientists shoot a neutron into the element's nucleus, and the atoms split immediately.

The split results in a high amount of heat and gamma radiation, or electromagnetic radiation caused by the release of photon particles, the most basic particles of light. The two resulting atoms of the fission later create additional gamma radiation and beta radiation on their own.

Nuclear Hazards or Harmful Effects of Nuclear Energy

Though nuclear power has significant benefits, some serious incidents have changed the attitude of people towards the atomic power plants. Atomic energy has following dark sides:

• Nuclear weapons: The nuclear weapons like atomic bombs and missiles have devastating implications. The atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki can never be forgotten. These bombs killed numerous people and destroyed everything.
• Disasters: Use of nuclear energy technology can result in major disasters. One of these is Chernobyl Disaster of 1986 in the east while USSR. The nuclear reactor caught fire and resulted in world's worst nuclear accident that took 10 days to control the runaway reaction. Thousands of people died immediately, 24,000 people received high doses of radiations. After ten years of the incident (1996), it was found that increased rate of thyroid cancer in children was one of the long term effects. Fused fingers (monodactyl) to form a paddle and more than 5 digits (polydactyly) in hands and feet were the other genetic defects observed in Chernobyl.
• Other effects: There are much more kinds of damages from atomic accidents and use of atomic energy. The most common and long-term effect of radiations is the mutation, leading to abnormalities in the offsprings. Leukemia and breast cancer are the two common types of cancers linked to exposure to radiations. The disposal of the atomic waste is another major problem.

In conclusion, if all the nuclear weapons in the world were used, then all the humanity would most likely be destroyed. Later, the world would go into what is called "Nuclear Winter". Global temperature would drop significantly, as well as the amount of sunlight received by the earth. The combination of radioactivity, lack of food, and lowering temperatures cause an atomic Holocaust, with the chances of humans surviving very low.