Energy: the burning issue II

✍ Scribed by Yogi Goswami

• Book ID: 104439483
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 226 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1755-0084
• DOI: 10.1016/s1471-0846(07)70111-7

✦ Synopsis

Biomass

Although theoretically harvestable biomass energy potential is of the order of 90Tw, the technical potential on a sustainable basis is of the order of 8-13Tw or 270-450 exajoules/yr. This potential is 3-4 times the present electrical generation capacity of the world. It is estimated that by 2025, even municipal solid waste (MSW) could generate up to 6 exajoules/yr.

The biggest advantage of biomass as an energy resource is its relatively straightforward transformation into transportation fuels. Biofuels have the potential to replace as much as 75% of the petroleum fuels in use for transportation in the USA today without the need for additional infrastructure development. Therefore, development of biofuels is being viewed very favourably by governments around the world. Biofuels, along with other transportation options such as electric vehicles and hydrogen,