Energy potential, biomass industrial

Developing biomass energy can provide economic, political, social and environmental advantages. The energy potential of biomass has been estimated at almost 42 quadrillion Btus which is about 1/2 of the total energy consumption in the United States. Biomass provides the U.S. with about the same amount of energy as the nuclear industry. 

The Renewables-Intensive Global Energy Scenario (RIGES) predicts a primary energy potential from biomass resources for Western Europe to be 14160 PJ/year by 2025 and 14 170 PJ/year by 2050 (Johansson et al., 1993). Thereby the biomass potential comprises resources from wood, energy crops, agricultural residues and industrial biomass residues. The estimates are based on the biomass production at that time in combination with assumptions of future growth rates. 

Hoogwijk et al. (2005) assume the biomass energy potential in Western Europe from energy crops, agricultural residues, forest residues and industrial biogenic residues to be of the order of 10000 PJ/year and 16000 PJ/year by 2050. The analysis is based on the IMAGE 2.2 model using the four scenarios from the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES), (Nakicenovic, 2000) as main assumptions for the included food demand and supply. 

M. A. Ngan and A. S. H. Ong, Potential Biomass Energy from Palm Oil Industry, PORIM Bulletin No. 14, Research Institute, Malaysia, 1987, pp. 10-15. 

Generally speaking, about 75% of the total biomass produced belongs to the class of carbohydrates. However, only 3.5% of these compounds are actually used by mankind (Tschan et al. 2012). Clearly, the theoretical availability of biomass does not mean that it is economically feasible or environmentally viable to collect it for industrial use. Parikka (2004) estimated the sustainable worldwide biomass energy potential to be about 100 EJ/year. Only 40% of this biomass is currently used according to Parikka (2004). 

The chemical industries are looking for sustainable growth with a high-energy, efficient biomass conversion approach that can be commercialized into value-added platform chemicals to replace petroleum-derived chemicals (Menon and Rao, 2012). The industrial conversion depends on the selective syntiiesis of products at higher yields, with large-scale production, efficient separation techniques, and tire removal of impurities from renewable resources (Ruppert et al., 2012). The preferred targets of the chemical industry based on raw material, process complexity, productivity, and potential market for the top value-added platform chemicals are listed in Table 26.1. 

In spite of significant problems, many are optimistic about the role of biomass for alternative fuels in the future. The U.S. Department of Energy believes that biofuels from nonfood crops and MSW could potentially cut U.S. oil imports by 15 to 20%. Ethanol industry members believe that the capacity for producing that fuel alone could be doubled in a few years and tripled in five years. 

The potential of combining a lower need for deoxygenation and a higher product value is illustrated in Fig. 2.15. It shows that the selective incorporation of oxygen into a hydrocarbon, as done in the petrochemical industry, is very expensive. In contrast, the bio-based alternative enjoys two advantages. Firstly, the feedstock is cheaper than crude oil, even on an energy and carbon base, as discussed above. Secondly, its selective deoxygenation has been proven to cheaper than the petrochemical route in a few cases, e.g., for ethanol and furfural. The same can be expected for other biomass derivates in the future. 

Hydrogen is of interest as a means to deliver gaseous fuel from non-fossil primary energy resources such as nuclear reactors, or high temperature solar collectors. It is believed that hydrogen may phase into the energy market at such a time when fossil-based fuels either become too expensive or environmentally unsatisfactory. Hydrogen and biomass are the only two potentially visible options at the present time for the gas industry if that does take place. 

Considerable attention has been paid to the application of CNTs as the catalyst support for Fischer Tropsch synthesis (FTS), mainly driven by utilization of the confinement effect (Section 15.2.3). In general, this process is a potential alternative to synthesize fuel (alkanes) or basic chemicals like alkenes or alcohols from syngas, which can be derived from coal or biomass. The broad product spectrum, which can be controlled only to a limited extent by the catalyst, prohibited its industrial realization so far, however, it is considered an important building block for future energy and chemical resource management based on renewables. 

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