Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

BIOPOWER
A Brief History of Biopower
Biomass is the oldest form of renewable energy exploited by mankind,
mainly in the form of wood burnt to provide heat and light for domestic and
productive activities. Traditional use has been primarily based on direct
combustion, a process still extensively practised in many parts of the world.
Traditional biomass is a dispersed, labour-intensive source of energy. In the
past as in the present, increasing human population and/or industrial activity
has led to growing energy demand and often destruction of the natural
environment. More concentrated and convenient energy sources like nonrenewable
fossil fuels have substituted for traditional biomass in many areas,
although huge rural populations in developing countries are still not served
with modern electricity or fuels. While biomass energy has been associated
with poor households, it is now increasingly recognised as an important
source of energy for many sectors in both industrial and developing
countries.
Technology Status
● Basic Features
An important feature of bioenergy and bioelectricity is their complexity.
Bioenergy varies due to technical, environmental and policy factors, but also
by resource type and form. Biological resources are still mainly used for heat
production, as in combined heat & power plants (CHP), and can be used and
stored in different forms (solid, liquid, gaseous). Biomass energy conversion
has both positive and negative environmental impacts: burning of organic
and fossil material emits harmful gasses, while the disposal of agricultural
and other organic waste utilises otherwise worthless material for energy.
Biomass differs from other renewables in that it links the farming and forestry
industries, which provide the various feedstocks, to power generation, which
utilises the converted fuels. Compared to most other renewable energies,
biomass has the key advantage of inherent energy storage.
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BIOPOWER
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