Biomass power plant: Biomass is a versatile renewable energy source. It can be converted into liquid transportation fuels that are equivalent to fossil- based fuels, such as gasoline, jet and diesel fuel. Bioenergy technologies enable the reuse of carbon from biomass and waste streams into reduced- emission fuels for cars, trucks, jets and ships; bio products and renewable power. In many ways biomass is a unique renewable resource. It can be stored and transported relatively easily in contrast to renewable options such as wind and solar, which create intermittent electrical power that requires immediate consumption and a connection to the grid. With the exception of waste and residue, the cost of biomass often represent a significant share of the production cost of bio energy. One or more conversion steps are needed to transform raw biomass into consumable bio energy products and services. As it grows, plant biomass captures solar energy and converts it to chemical energy stored in the chemical bonds of its molecular constituents. This chemical energy can be either directly released as heat via combustion or converted into a variety of marketable intermediate chemical and energy products. A bio energy chain consists of a series of conversions steps by which a raw biomass feed stock is transformed into a final energy product(heat, electricity or transport biofuel).
Common biomass conversion processes include: 1. Combustion: the process by which flammable materials are burned in the presence of air or oxygen to release heat. 2. Gasification: is the conversion of biomass into a combustible gas mixture referred to as producer gas. 3. Pyrolysis: consists of thermal decomposition in the absence of oxygen. 4. Anaerobic digestion: is the process whereby bacteria break down organic material in the absence of air, yielding a biogas containing methane and a solid residue. 5. Fermentation: involves the conversion of a plant’s glucose into an alcohol or acid.
Biogas plants rely on anaerobic digestion, a fermentation process in which waste is digested by microbes to produce methane gas. The waste can be converted into bio fertilizer and spread directly onto fields, or the bio gas itself can be used interchangeably with natural gas as fuel.