Biomass – trash to treasure

ENVIRONMENT

THE world is now coming to terms and realising the severity of climate related disasters and disappearance of small island states under the rising oceans.
If there is going to be another world war, then definitely it is going to be the global Climate Change 3rd World War. A lot more is at stake, maybe it is not too late to save the world. The world’s scientists have been working tirelessly to try and explain the sciences to climate change and its disasters and possible solutions to mitigate these disasters and bring them under control.
The cause of climate changes has been related to global warming from the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuel for energy production. In their search for alternated sources of energy production, the world countries are continuously developing projects related to renewal cleaner energy products through alternate energy sources like thermal energy, hydropower, wind power, sea/wave energy and biomass energy.
Our discussion in this week’s article is on Biomass as a potential renewal energy that is of greater value as it was already in use from the early human settlements.
People have used biomass energy from living matter since the earliest homes first made wood fires for cooking or keeping warm. Today, biomass is used to fuel electric generators and other machinery.
Let us discuss biomass energy production and use as applicable to Papua New Guinea. Biomass energy is readily available at the very least form in cooking and heating at our homes. Biomass refers to the materials used to produce energy from burning. The product from the burning of biomass is the heat energy. In the most sophisticated process, the heat energy is converted to electrical energy by pass the heat through a series of blades that turn turbines producing heat.
As mentioned earlier, biomass refers to the material that is used to produce heat energy. So biomass is organic material that originates from living organisms such as plants and animals which is plentiful in Papua New Guinea.
The most commonly used biomass material which are abundant in the environment used for energy production are plants, wood, and waste. These are commonly referred to and are called biomass feedstock. Biomass energy can also be a nonrenewable energy source.
Some of these biomass feedstock include switch grass, copra/coconut shells, cotton, japtra, municipal solid wastes, sunflowers, palm nuts (oil palm nuts and empty fresh fruit bunches), canola, wheat, sugar can, wood and rice.
The originating energy is from the sun whereby the biomass converts the sun’s energy through a process called photosynthesis.
The process involves converting carbon dioxide and water into nutrients (carbohydrates). The energy is than stored in the biomass and is released on burning or processed into fuel.

How biopower (biomass) works
Biomass energy is a fascinating concept that harnesses the power of living organisms to generate electricity and heat. It is also an alternate source of cleaner renewal energy. Let us take a closer look at the details if it is suitable for Papua New Guinea.
Biomass energy comes from organic materials derived from living organisms, such as plants and animals. Plants and animals are readily available in abundance at no cost or little cost. The common feedstock or the materials required are plants, woods and wastes. These materials contain energy originally derived from the sun through photosynthesis.
There are several methods in which the biomass is converted into usable energy. Let us look at some of the methods in which biomass is converted to usable energy. The most common method is the burning of biomass to produce energy.
Conversion methodologies

1. Direct combustion: Is the process by which biomass is burned in a boiler to produce high-pressure steam. This steam drives a turbine connected to a generator, generating electricity.
2. Thermal conversion: In this conversion method, biomass feedstocks or materials such as wood and plants are heated to burn, dehydrate, or stabilize them. Different techniques include:
3. Torrefaction: Biomass is heated to about 200°C to 320°C (390°F to 610°F) to remove moisture and increase energy content. The resulting dry material can be compressed into briquettes for efficient storage and burning.
4. Direct Firing: Most biomass briquettes are burned directly to produce heat or electricity.
5. Co-firing: Biomass can be combined with other fuels (such as coal) in power plants.
6. Pyrolysis: Biomass is heated in the absence of oxygen to produce bio-oil, biochar, and syngas.

Pyrolysis is a related method of heating biomass. During pyrolysis, biomass is heated to 200°C to 300° C (390° to 570° F) without the presence of oxygen. This keeps it from combusting and causes the biomass to be chemically altered.
Pyrolysis produces dark liquid called pyrolysis oil, a synthetic gas called syngas, and a solid residue called biochar. All of these components can be used for energy.
Pyrolysis oil, sometimes called bio-oil or biocrude, is a type of tar.
It can be combusted to generate electricity and is also used as a component in other fuels and plastics. Scientists and engineers are studying pyrolysis oil as a possible alternative to petroleum.
Syngas can be converted into fuel (such as synthetic natural gas). It can also be converted into methane and used as a replacement for natural gas.
Biochar is a type of charcoal. Biochar is a carbon-rich solid that is particularly useful in agriculture. Biochar enriches soil and prevents it from leaching pesticides and other nutrients into runoff. Biochar is also an excellent carbon sink. Carbon sinks are reservoirs for carbon-containing chemicals, including greenhouse gases.
7. Gasification: Biomass is converted into a gas mixture (syngas) that can be used for electricity generation.
Biomass can also be directly converted to energy through gasification. During the gasification process, a biomass feedstock (usually MSW) is heated to more than 700° C (1,300° F) with a controlled amount of oxygen. The molecules break down, and produce syngas and slag.
Syngas is a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. During gasification, syngas is cleaned of sulfur, particulates, mercury, and other pollutants. The clean syngas can be combusted for heat or electricity, or processed into transportation biofuels, chemicals, and fertilizers.
Slag forms as a glassy, molten liquid. It can be used to make shingles, cement, or asphalt.
Industrial gasification plants are being built all over the world. Asia and Australia are constructing and operating the most plants, although one of the largest gasification plants in the world is currently under construction in Stockton-on-Tees, England. This plant will eventually be able to convert more than 350,000 tons of MSW into enough energy to power 50,000 homes.
8. Anaerobic digestion: Microorganisms break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen, producing biogas (methane) that can be used for energy.
Anaerobic decomposition is the process where microorganisms, usually bacteria, break down material in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic decomposition is an important process in landfills, where biomass is crushed and compressed, creating an anaerobic (or oxygen-poor) environment.
In an anaerobic environment, biomass decays and produces methane, which is a valuable energy source. This methane can replace fossil fuels.
In addition to landfills, anaerobic decomposition can also be implemented on ranches and livestock farms.
Manure and other animal waste can be converted to sustainably meet the energy needs of the farm.

Benefits of biomass energy
The benefits of biomass energy are that it is renewable and is abundant and can be replenished. It is also carbon-neutral in that it releases carbon dioxide during combustion but this can be offset by the carbon absorbed during plant growth. Biomass usage helps resolve waste management issues by utilising agriculture residues, wood scraps, and even municipal solid waste.
Biomass is a clean, renewable energy source. Its initial energy comes from the sun, and plants or algae biomass can regrow in a relatively short amount of time. Trees, crops, and municipal solid waste are consistently available and can be managed sustainably.
If trees and crops are sustainably farmed, they can offset carbon emissions when they absorb carbon dioxide through respiration. In some bioenergy processes, the amount of carbon that is reabsorbed even exceeds the carbon emissions that are released during fuel processing or usage.
Many biomass feedstocks, such as switchgrass, can be harvested on marginal lands or pastures, where they do not compete with food crops.
Unlike other renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar, biomass energy is stored within the organism, and can be harvested when it is needed.

Challenges and considerations
Biomass use must be properly managed to prevent overharvesting so that it can be sustainable. It has to be efficient in its conversion technologies. If biomass feedstocks are not replenished as quickly as they are used, they can become nonrenewable. A forest, for instance, can take hundreds of years to re-establish itself. This is still a much, much shorter time period than a fossil fuel such as peat. It can take 900 years for just a meter (three feet) of peat to replenish itself.
Most biomass requires arable land to develop. This means that land used for biofuel crops such as corn and soybeans are unavailable to grow food or provide natural habitats.
Forested areas that have matured for decades (so-called “old-growth forests”) are able to sequester more carbon than newly planted areas. Therefore, if forested areas are not sustainably cut, re-planted, and given time to grow and sequester carbon, the advantages of using the wood for fuel are not offset by the trees’ regrowth.
Most biomass plants require fossil fuels to be economically efficient. An enormous plant under construction near Port Talbot, Wales, for instance, will require fossil fuels imported from North America, offsetting some of the sustainability of the enterprise.
Biomass has a lower “energy density” than fossil fuels. As much as 50 per cent of biomass is water, which is lost in the energy conversion process. Scientists and engineers estimate that it is not economically efficient to transport biomass more than 160km (100 miles) from where it is processed.
However, converting biomass into pellets (as opposed to wood chips or larger briquettes) can increase the fuel’s energy density and make it more advantageous to ship.
While biomass is carbon-neutral, emissions from combustion still impact air quality through emissions. Burning biomass releases carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other pollutants and particulates. If these pollutants are not captured and recycled, burning biomass can create smog and even exceed the number of pollutants released by fossil fuels.
In summary, biomass energy offers a sustainable and versatile solution, tapping into the natural processes of life to power our world.

Biomass energy production in PNG
There is no established biomass energy production industry in the country yet. PNG should take more efforts to develop this energy sources as the feedstock or the material required are plentiful and freely provided for by nature. Looking at the huge potential in biomass energy production in where there is continuous power cuts and unemployment, the PNG Government should seek this alternate source as a relieve and to also provided employment opportunities.
There are very small such energy sources in the oil palm industry where the EFFB or empty fresh fruit bunches and palm nut shells are burnt in furnishes for boilers in oil production and provide relief power supply. Recently, a larger proposal on biomass energy production has been put forward, PNG Biomass project in Morobe’s Markham Valley. It is to be wholly owned by Oil Search Ltd (Now Santos). It aims to use wood chips from sustainably-grown plantation trees to power a 30 megawatt (MW) power plant to feed into PNG Power Limited’s Ramu grid under a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in December 2015.
The project has since added a 10MW solar power plant, which was expected to be funded by the AUD$2 billion (K5.42 billion) Australian Infrastructure Finance Fund for the Pacific. Neither plant has yet been built.
This proposed biomass project has not got off the ground yet due to issues between the owners and PNG Power. When issues are resolved that it will be the first project in biomass in Papua New Guinea.