Renewable energy has been around for billions of years. Many people overlook the fact that humans have been using renewable energy since the start of civilization. The simplest form of energy is wood, which has been used as a source of energy for thousands of years. Biomass energy can be produced from many different kinds of renewable substances, such as clean household and industrial waste, wood and forest residues, agricultures crop residue, and animal waste. (How Biomass Energy Works) Wood biomass can be grown to continually use the substance for burning to create energy. Energy is creating within the wood when it absorbs the suns energy using a process called photosynthesis. Burning the wood releases the energy stored as heat. (Biomass
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The gas that is given off by the wood has a low calorific value. The low calorific values call for the turbines of the generator to be larger, causing a higher capital costs for the power plant. (Mcilveen-Wright, Williams, & Mcmullan, 2001, p.184) Growing trees to wood biomass energy requires space and land. (Biomass Energy Pros and Cons) Not all trees can be used for burning though, such as trees in a national park. Wood biomass has generally a low cost. Costs of wood biomass include transportation of the wood, operating costs, and startup costs. Transportation costs depend on the distance of travel and a standard fixed cost for harvesting of the wood. (Mcilveen-Wright, Williams, & Mcmullan, 2001, p.186) Operation costs include insurance, salaries, maintenance. The average costs for operation is 3% to 6% of the total investment. (Dornburg, & Faaij, 2011, …show more content…
If wood could replace oil or coal as the top producer of energy in the United States it already would have. It is a substance that has been around for thousands of years and someone, somewhere would have come up with a solution to better utilize it. Wood should not be thrown to the backburner though. It can be widely used in many different forms. If it was harvested and recycled correctly it could make a bigger dent on the percentage of energy come from wood. Many different things factor into the viability of wood. Plantation yield, afforestation level, wood moisture, and transportation costs all have to be factored in. (Mcilveen-Wright, Williams, & Mcmullan, 2001, p.190) As the United States grows in population, it will require more land to build homes and businesses. The different forms of biomass put together can make even a bigger impact than just wood alone. Taking garbage and using it make electricity from the gases it produces was a smart idea. It seems as if biomass still has more to offer and could help reduce the United States dependency on oil. Not one form of renewable energy will replace oil; they must be split somewhat equally across the board to move oil from
The gas that is given off by the wood has a low calorific value. The low calorific values call for the turbines of the generator to be larger, causing a higher capital costs for the power plant. (Mcilveen-Wright, Williams, & Mcmullan, 2001, p.184) Growing trees to wood biomass energy requires space and land. (Biomass Energy Pros and Cons) Not all trees can be used for burning though, such as trees in a national park. Wood biomass has generally a low cost. Costs of wood biomass include transportation of the wood, operating costs, and startup costs. Transportation costs depend on the distance of travel and a standard fixed cost for harvesting of the wood. (Mcilveen-Wright, Williams, & Mcmullan, 2001, p.186) Operation costs include insurance, salaries, maintenance. The average costs for operation is 3% to 6% of the total investment. (Dornburg, & Faaij, 2011, …show more content…
If wood could replace oil or coal as the top producer of energy in the United States it already would have. It is a substance that has been around for thousands of years and someone, somewhere would have come up with a solution to better utilize it. Wood should not be thrown to the backburner though. It can be widely used in many different forms. If it was harvested and recycled correctly it could make a bigger dent on the percentage of energy come from wood. Many different things factor into the viability of wood. Plantation yield, afforestation level, wood moisture, and transportation costs all have to be factored in. (Mcilveen-Wright, Williams, & Mcmullan, 2001, p.190) As the United States grows in population, it will require more land to build homes and businesses. The different forms of biomass put together can make even a bigger impact than just wood alone. Taking garbage and using it make electricity from the gases it produces was a smart idea. It seems as if biomass still has more to offer and could help reduce the United States dependency on oil. Not one form of renewable energy will replace oil; they must be split somewhat equally across the board to move oil from