Daily Special Current Affairs Material for IAS (Pre) 2013 - Topic: "Biomass - A Storehouse of Clean Energy"

Chapter: Science & Technology

Topic: Biomass - A Storehouse of Clean Energy

Q. What do you mean by Biomass and what are the main sources of it in India?

Ans. Biomass means biological material from living or recently living organisms which is used as an important source of energy. It is a renewable and carbon natural source of energy. It includes agriculture residues and forest residues. Agriculture residues result from crop harvesting and processing. They include rice husk, bagasse, sugar cane tops and leaves, groundnut shells, cotton stalks and mustard stalks. Forest residues result from logging and wood processing. They include small trees, branches, tops and un-merchantable wood left in the forest.

Q. What are the main sources of Biomass in India and what is scope of it?

Ans. Biomass resources in India are estimated to be about 565 million tonnes per year. The surplus biomass resources available for power generation annually are about 189 million tonnes, which could support roughly 25 GW of installed capacity. Further, co-generation plants provide both heat energy, used in the mill, and electricity, which is typically sold to the grid. It is estimated that about 15 GW of electricity generating capacity could be achieved through adding cogeneration capabilities in various industries including sugar mills, breweries, textile mills, distilleries, fertilizer plants, pulp and paper mills, and rice mills. In addition, there exists a potential of setting up 12 million family type biogas plants.

Q. There are how many types of Biomass?

Ans. Biomass includes three distinct categories:

1. Solid Biomass, which includes tree, crop residues like rice husk, bagasse, coconut shells, jute waste, etc. and animal and human waste.

2. Biogas which is obtained by anaerobically digesting organic material to produce combustible gas methane.

3. Liquid biofuels which are obtained by subjecting organic materials to one of various chemical or physical processes to produce usable combustible liquid fuels.

Q. How many types to convert Biomass to Useful Energy?

There are basically three types of conversions:

1. Thermal Conversion- A process in which heat is used to convert biomass into another chemical form.

2. Chemical Conversion - A range of chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into other forms so that fuel may be used more conveniently transported or stored.

3. Biochemical Conversion- I t involves anaerobic digestion fermentation and Composting.

Q. What are the benefits of using Biomass?

Ans.

• It reduces air pollution as biomass emits less Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide than fossil fuels.

• Biomass fuels recycle atmospheric carbon, minimizing global warming impacts since zero net Carbon dioxide is emitted during biomass growth phase. Amount of carbon dioxide emitted is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed from atmosphere during growth phase of biomass.

• Using biomass decreases animal and municipal waste. Through anaerobic digestion process biomass in the form of waste is converted into useful energy.

• Using biomass as fuel reduces the landfill space required to dump the woody biomass, lumber mill waste, etc. It helps in creating local jobs in rural areas.

Q. What is the present picture of using Biomass for energy in India?

Ans. Presently, biomass contributes to around 30% of the total primary energy supply in the country. The major source of energy for cooking for 85% of households in rural India includes firewood, chips, dung cake, etc. Moreover 20% of urban households still rely primarily on traditional fuels to meet their cooking needs.

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