Natural gas biomass

Biomass is the world s fourth largest energy source worldwide, following coal, oil and natural gas. Biomass appears to be an attractive feedstock for three main... 

Methanol can be produced from biomass, essentially any primary energy somce. Thus, the choice of fuel in the transportation sector is to some extent determined by the availability of biomass. As regards to the difference between hydrogen and methanol production costs, conversion of natural gas, biomass and coal into hydrogen is generally more energy efficient and less expensive than the conversion into methanol. 

The Fisher-Tropsch plants build in Germany before World War II and during World War II produced about 16,000 barrels (1 barrel = 0.159 m3) per day of liquid fuels from coal, employing a Co catalyst in fixed-bed reactors [5], However, during the 1950s, the Fisher-Tropsch process turned out to be uneconomical as a consequence of the abundant supply of crude oil. Nevertheless, currently considerable attention is being paid to develop alternatives of the Fisher-Tropsch process to generate liquid fuels from natural gas, biomass, oil sands, oil shales, and coal [134],... 

Dimethyl ether can be produced from natural gas, biomass, or other carbon containing materials. Using existing supplies of natural gas combined with current technology, DME can be economically produced on a large scale via synthesis gas. Syngas, or synthesis gas, is... 

At present, the consensus among many of the world s hydrogen proponents is that the initial impetus to really get hydrogen going in the commercial marketplace would have to come from the use of carbon-containing fuels, such as natural gas, biomass, and maybe even coal. 

Renewable carbon resources is a misnomer the earth s carbon is in a perpetual state of flux. Carbon is not consumed such that it is no longer available in any form. Reversible and irreversible chemical reactions occur in such a manner that the carbon cycle makes all forms of carbon, including fossil resources, renewable. It is simply a matter of time that makes one carbon from more renewable than another. If it is presumed that replacement does in fact occur, natural processes eventually will replenish depleted petroleum or natural gas deposits in several million years. Eixed carbon-containing materials that renew themselves often enough to make them continuously available in large quantities are needed to maintain and supplement energy suppHes biomass is a principal source of such carbon. 

With all components in the ideal gas state, the standard enthalpy of the process is exothermic by —165 kJ (—39.4 kcal) per mole of methane formed. Biomass can serve as the original source of hydrogen, which then effectively acts as an energy carrier from the biomass to carbon dioxide, to produce substitute (or synthetic) natural gas (SNG) (see Euels, synthetic). 

Table 2. Potential Substitute Natural Gas in United States from Biomass at Different Crop Yields...

The market penetration of synthetic fuels from biomass and wastes in the United States depends on several basic factors, eg, demand, price, performance, competitive feedstock uses, government incentives, whether estabUshed fuel is replaced by a chemically identical fuel or a different product, and cost and availabiUty of other fuels such as oil and natural gas. Detailed analyses have been performed to predict the market penetration of biomass energy well into the twenty-first century. A range of from 3 to about 21 EJ seems to characterize the results of most of these studies. 

There are many different routes to organic chemicals from biomass because of its high polysaccharide content and reactivity. The practical value of the conversion processes selected for commercial use with biomass will depend strongly on the availabiUty and price of the same chemicals produced from petroleum and natural gas. 

X MW in 1986, of the power produced in the same year. Biomass-fueled electric capacity and generation was 19.2% (4.9 x 10 MW) and 21.2% (23.7 X 10 MWh) respectively, of total nonutiUty capacity and generation. Biomass-fueled capacity experienced a 16% increase in 1986 over 1985, the same as natural gas, but it was not possible to determine the percentage of the total power production that was sold to the electric utiUties and used on-site. Total production should be substantially more than the excess sold to the electric utiUties. Overall, the chemical, paper, and lumber industries accounted for over one-half of the total nonutiUty capacity in 1986, and three states accounted for 45% of total nonutiUty generation, ie, Texas, 26% of total California, 12% of total and Louisiana, 7% of total. There were 2449 nonutiUty producers with operating faciUties in 1986, a 15.8% increase over 1985 75% capacity was intercoimected to electric utiUty systems. 

The MTG process was developed for synfuel production in response to the 1973 oil crisis and the steep rise in crude prices that followed. Because methanol can be made from any gasiftable carbonaceous source, including coal, natural gas, and biomass, the MTG process provided a new alternative to petroleum for Hquid fuels production. New Zealand, heavily dependent on foreign oil imports, utilizes the MTG process to convert vast offshore reserves of natural gas to gasoline (59). 

There has been considerable research into the production of substitute natural gas (SNG) from fractions of cmde oil, coal, or biomass (see Euels SYNTHETIC, Euels frombiomass Euels fromwaste). The process involves partial oxidation of the feedstock to produce a synthesis gas containing carbon... 

Human interaction with the global cycle is most evident in the movement of the element carbon. The burning of biomass, coal, oil, and natural gas to generate heat and electricity has released carbon to the atmosphere and oceans in the forms of CO2 and carbonate. Because of the relatively slow... 

In the United States, where clean and convenient natural gas, propane, and electricity are widely available and affordable, biomass use has limited potential. Nevenheless, U.S. biomass energy production has been increasing because of technological advances for new and improved biomass applications for electricity generation, gasification, and liquid fuels. 

The capital cost of an IGCC plant for biomass or coal IS in the range of 1,500 to 2,000 per installed kW. A comparable natural gas fire facility costs about 750 to 1,000. The economics of biomass electricity based on IGCC technology depend on the relative cost of natural gas and biomass fuels. Biomass must be lower m cost than gas to pay back the additional capital cost of gas production and cleaning. A 1999 estimate suggestes that the biomass would have to be 3 per million Btiis cheaper than natural gas for biomass to be economical. 

United States in 1998) from coal (56%), nuclear (20%), natural gas (11%), hydro (8%), oil (3%), biomass (1.5%), geothermal (0.2%), wind (0.1%), and solar (0.02%). Recently, wholesale and some retail markets have been unbundled, allowing competitors to sell electrons with the monopoly utility or municipality providing the transmission service. Open-access restructuring gives customers choices and creates a commodity market in which the lowest-cost electricity wins market share at the expense of higher-cost alternatives. 

Project delineates between cleaner new gas technologies and polluting old natural gas technologies—and reserves a third cleanest category for energy efficiency/conservation, solar, wind, and geothermal (but not hydro or biomass). 

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