A considerable amount of fossil fuels, particularly coal and oil is being consumed as a source of energy for expanding industry and transport sectors. It is apprehended that fossil fuels being non-renewable in nature, are going to be exhausted in the near future.
In view of this, biomass is considered a major alternative clean energy source. As it is a renewable one, efforts are being made in recent decades to utilise the energy obtained from biomass for these two sectors. Since the very beginning, human beings have been using biomass for harnessing energy for cooking food and other domestic purposes. However, the availability of the right type of biomass and its use in industry and transport sectors strongly depend on regional conditions including availability, cost, nature of biomass etc. At present, biomass provides about 8% of the total energy requirement of industries in the world. In some regions of the world like Latin America and Africa, biomass contributes nearly 30% of the energy requirement of industries.
The coke produced from metallurgical coal is predominantly used for iron and steel making but, historically, iron was produced using charcoal exclusively as fuel and reductant. Even now, in countries like Brazil, a significant amount of pig iron is being produced using charcoal. In the transport sector, fossil fuels can also be replaced by biofuels in an efficient manner, hopefully by 2050. The cement, iron and steel sectors in Brazil use biomass for about 34% and 40% respectively of the total fuel consumed.
Some of the applications of bio-energy in the industrial sector are summarised below:
Biomass available in different forms can be utilised to produce electricity, heat and transport fuels. By extensive use of biomass, it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions considerably. By using biomass for producing energy with the best available technology, the carbon dioxide emission can be reduced to 55-98% compared to fossil fuels even when transported over a long distance, but the availability of biomass for meeting the increasing demand for energy and transport fuel is limited. However, large-scale use of biomass may cause deforestation and environmental problems. Reduced bio-diversity is a major risk to our environment having adverse effects on air quality, soil properties and bio-diversity.
However, afforestation of barren land and plantation of fast-growing species should be carried out extensively and in addition to this, there is a great scope for applying better technology for power and heat generation from biomass. The domestic organic wastes and agricultural wastes if collected and utilised properly through incineration or anaerobic digestion can produce substantial amounts of energy and heat.
At present, in Denmark, agricultural residues are collected for producing bioenergy in a big way. In the European Union (EU), considerable efforts are being made to produce heat and power from biomass. It is reported that serious efforts are being made in recent years to produce more bioenergy and heat so that, the amount of bio-energy produced in the EU can be increased to 850 TWh by 2020.
In the present world, most of the energy required in domestic, industrial, transport and similar other sectors are largely derived from fossil fuels releasing millions of tons of greenhouse gases and particulate matter to the environment causing global warming and climate change.
In view of this, efforts should be made in a big way in different countries of the world to produce and utilise increasing quantities of biomass for generating electrical and heat energies so that, the greenhouse gases can be reduced substantially. The electricity and heat energy can be generated through the combustion of biomass or the production of biogas in systems ranging from small-scale domestic stoves to industrial power or heating plants. The biomass including organic wastes can also be utilised more effectively along with coal in thermal power plants. This can be achieved even in the existing coal-fired thermal power plants. This is known as ‘Co-firing’ and it is claimed to be a cost-effective option. In the coming years, serious efforts should also be made to produce fuel from biomass for the transport sector to minimise the use of fossil fuels.
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