Transcript Solar Energy II - Illinois State University

Solar Energy V
Biomass
Do you support the use of corn
to produce ethanol as a fuel?
1.
2.
Yes
No
54%
46%
1
2
Would you be willing to pay more for a
biofuel to power you car?
1.
2.
Yes
No
57%
43%
1
2
How much more would you be
willing to pay?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
None, I want
the cheapest
fuel possible
10%
25%
50%
More the 50%
39%
37%
22%
0%
1
2
3
4
2%
5
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Biomass energy is that energy
derived from living matter such as
field crops (corn, soy beans, etc.),
trees, water plants, agricultural and
forestry waste, and municipal solid
waste (garbage).
Can be used as a solid (wood chips)
liquid (alcohol) and gaseous
(methane) fuel.
Until ~1880 biomass was the prime
fuel in the US.
Neat Aside
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Plastics from biomass, like some
recently developed to dissolve in
seawater, are made the same way as
petroleum-based plastics. These
plastics are actually cheaper to
manufacture and meet or exceed
most performance standards, but
they lack the same water resistance
or longevity as conventional plastics
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Currently provides 3% of US energy
needs and can provide several times
the output expected from wind and
photovoltaics.
Has the potential to provide between
4 and 25% of our energy needs.
Sweden and Finland use Biomass for
14% of their energy needs.
Basic Energy Storage Mechanism
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Photosynthesis:
CO2+H2O+light O2+Carbohydrates
Reverse Process is called respiration.
Since Carbon is taken out of the
atmosphere during photosynthesis
and is put back when “fuel” is used,
there is no net addition of Carbon to
the atmosphere on a yearly average.
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20% of the land in the 48 states is
cropland and 30% is commercial
forest and woodland.
Common crops used for Biofuels
include corn, soybeans, sugar cane,
sugar beets and oats. Other
potentials are switch grass and
algae.
The US has over 1 billion acres of
land suitable for growing biomass.
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Forestland and agricultural land
could potentially supply 1.3 billion
tons of dry biomass per year.
This is enough to replace one third
of our current demand for
transportation fuel.
This would significantly cut imports
as well as reducing pollution.
OLD EXPECTATIONS
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Biomass fuel would require only
modest changes in growing
practices and would not impact
food, feed and export demand.
Very positive effect on rural
economy since it produces new
markets.
Realities
First Generation Biofuels
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Increased demand bio-fuel feedstock will
lead prices for such grain to significantly
increase.
Expanding biofuel production is also
projected to cause the price of livestock
production to increase.
This increase would lead to a decrease in
livestock production and ultimately
decrease the income of livestock
producers, affecting families globally.
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Increased agricultural prices provide
incentives for farmers to stray away
from producing other less profitable
grains, causing a shift in the crop
production structure, leading to a
decrease in agricultural diversity
subsequently diverting food away
from the human food chain.
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For the US to meet its biofuel target, 40%
of the land that is currently devoted to
corn production would have to be
converted to biofuel feedstock production
Shifts in crop production and the changes
in world price of agricultural commodities
due to the expansion of the biofuel market
are expected to have global impacts on
consumers. Individuals who are food
insecure will be more heavily impacted by
the increase in world prices; food price
volatility has the largest impact on the
extremely poor, those who spend 55-75%
of their income on food [
Ethanol
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Ethanol production was 3.4 billion
gallons in 2004 and has be growing
by 20% per year.
Based on the fermentation of plant
mater.
It can be made from a lot of different
crops. US uses mostly corn, Brazil
uses sugarcane, France uses wheat
and sugar beats
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Flow diagram for
the production of
ethanol.
Ethanol Plants in the US
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Speaker of the
House Dennis
Hastert dedicating
a new ethanol
plant in Illinois.
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Most ethanol is used as a
transportation fuel/gasoline additive.
Currently we use E10 fuel. 90%
gasoline and 10% ethanol.
No special requirements for using
E10.
Flex-fuel cars can use up to E85.
Potential to use ethanol in fuel cells
in the future.
Comparison of Gasoline/Ethanol
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Ethanol has the higher octane rating.
Ethanol is cleaner burning (less soot)
Ethanol has no visible flame (potential
hazard)
Ethanol has ~1/2 the energy content per
gallon as gasoline.
Ethanol is less expensive per gallon.
Ethanol is highly corrosive (Need special
engines to run on pure ethanol.)
Ethanol has a lower evaporation rate.
(Harder to start on cold days.)
Biodiesel
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A variety of oils can be used to produce
biodiesel.
• Virgin oil feedstock e.g.rapeseed and
soybean oils
• Waste vegetable oil (WVO);
• Animal
• Algae, which can be grown using waste
materials such as
• Oil from halophytes such as salicornia
bigelovii, which can be grown using
saltwater
Algae Biodiesel
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Currently too expensive to compete
BUT HAS A LOT OF ADVANTAGES
Can be produced using land that is
not suitable for agriculture.
Does not affect fresh water
resources,
Can be produced using ocean and
wastewater, and are biodegradable
and relatively harmless to the
environment if spilled
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Costs more per unit mass yet can
yield over 30 times more energy per
unit area than other biofuel crops
The US DOE estimates that if algae
fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in
the United States, it would require
15,000 square miles. This is less than
1⁄ the area of corn harvested in the
7
United States in 2000.
Biodiesel from bacteria
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Genetically modified cyanobacteria
secretes ethanol and bio-diesel.
Requires a concentrated CO2
environment
Targeted goal is “15,000 gallons of
diesel and 25,000 gallons of ethanol
per acre per year
Claim made by the company is that
diesel could be produced for
$30/barrel equivalent.
Municipal Solid Waste
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~30% of all municipal waste is
recycled.
We still need to process the other
70%.
Either bury it in landfills or burn it.
Energy content per pound of MSW is
~1/3 that of good coal (4300 Btu/lb)
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Major concerns deal with air pollution
during combustion.
A lot of potential “bad stuff” in
garbage.
Pollution control devices are very
expensive.
Many plants essentially break even
on their energy production
Big Stone MSW Power Plant in
South Dakota.
Wood burning power plants
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Typically smaller
scale power plants.
(10’s of MW.)
In house energy
production
Hydrogen
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There is a lot of future potential for
using Hydrogen.
It is a good way to store energy, but
it is NOT a new energy resource.
Potential use in fuel cells.
Transportation/storage is a concern.