Abstract
Introduction
Biomass is a major source of energy supply and it is used at different levels
of technology. It is the 4th largest contributor to the world' s primary energy
supply (after oil, coal and natural gas) and provides four times more primary
energy than hydropower. Biomass comes in many forms; wood and crop residues
such as sugar cane, energy crops, sewage waste, animal dung, industrial and
municipal waste, oil from plants, and many others. Wood is by far the dominant
biomass source. Scientists are identifying new biomass feedstocks such as
jatropha and algae, and lignocelluloses produced from cellulosic ethanol.
These are outlined in the report. It can be used "directly" in "traditional"
applications, as in household fires or wood burning cookers, or "indirectly"
after conversion into a secondary form of energy, such as biopower and
cogeneration, biodiesel or biogas. It is the only renewable that can easily be
processed into these three forms of secondary energy and is the largest form
of primary renewable energy. As a secondary form of energy, biomass has a much
smaller share of power generation than hydro power, which accounts for 15
times more electricity. The greatest use of direct or "traditional" biomass is
in the developing countries, while the developed countries lead in biomass
conversion.
Report Scope
This report is concerned with the technologies, markets and development of
biomass energy, both primary and secondary. Indirect use is the focus of much
technological development both in the industrialised and the developing
countries. Resources are enormous and constantly being renewed, either as
forest or crop residue, the commercial cultivation of energy crops, and
through the wastes generated from organic and industrial sources. The report
has more extensive quantified information than in the last edition, with
historical profiles of the 25 major biomass-using countries. Detailed sections
of the report provide surveys of principal biomass technologies and feedstocks
together with their usage:
- Biofuels, including bioethanol and biodiesel, with extensive coverage and
discussion of the issues in the bioethanol industries in the USA and Brazil
and biodiesel in Europe.
- Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), with surveyes of the main markets in Europe,
the US, India, Japan and China.
- Landfill gas, with surveys of the US, Europe and China.
- Biogas, produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of many waste
feedstocks.
- Biopower, with outlines of the production technologies and historical data
of generating capacity in the US and Europe from 2000 to 2007.
Environmental issues are discussed in the report, including national positions
and a brief discussion of the controversy surrounding the misuses of data by
promoters of the global warming concept.
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