Renewable Energy Sources - Part One - Biomass

by Darren

As fossil fuels become more scarce, the spotlight shifts for many people to renewable energy sources. In this article we’ll take a look at the major renewable energy sources, and examine any drawbacks they might have.

There are five renewable energy sources:

• Biomass
• Hydropower
• Geothermal
• Wind
• Solar

Biomass is getting a lot of press lately

The idea of using biomass as a renewable energy source, especially as an alternative fuel for cars, has been getting a lot of attention in the press lately. Simply, biomass is organic material that originates from plants or animals. Biomass will always contain stored energy from the Sun, which was obtained via photosynthesis.

Biomass is considered to be a renewable energy source because plants can be easily grown again, plus the waste decomposes easily.

Releasing the energy in Biomass

There are several ways to release the energy in biomass. Common methods including burning the biomass or converting the energy into another more usable form.

Bacteria feeds on dead plants and animals as a part of nature. This bacterial decay produces methane, which is often used to fuel automobiles.

Fermentation is another method used to release the energy in biomass, as is conversion. Fermentation and conversion are in less popular use than the other methods, but experimentation is happening on all fronts.

The area in which biomass excels is when the biomass is a waste product that is easily converted into usable energy.

Currently biomass represents only 3% of the fuel used in the United States, indicating a lot of room for improvement.

Continue to: Renewable Energy Sources - Part Two - Hydropower