«In this rural setting, we are able to produce our own electricity,» Richard Kisakye, the head
of the biomass energy generation plant at Nyabyeya Forestry College, told IPS.
-RSB- than the most water - efficient biomass technologies, implying that the
development of biomass energy technologies in scale sufficient to be a significant source of energy may produce or exacerbate water shortages around the globe and be limited by the availability of fresh water.»
A Preliminary integrated analysis of the potential
role of Biomass Energy for Reducing Future Greenhouse Related Emissions.
Schlesinger, himself a member of the advisory board, noted that the group has not met since August and that discussions about the
designation of biomass energy were «kind of left hanging as to what was happening.»
It was a devilish story to report out, because it took a long time to cut through confusing static that had built up around the
science of biomass energy, and because the wood pellet supply chain traverses two continents.
Combined with what many would consider to be the
obscureness of biomass energy, that has all acted like a reporting barrier, preventing news outlets from digging in as deeply as would be needed in order to draw clear conclusions.
In response, the study authors issued a clarification noting the mischaracterization and citing the overall
benefits of biomass energy.
Critics of biomass energy generation have generally either misunderstood the science or relied on distortion to demonize it and downplay its benefits.
Current industrial agriculture and its further intensification for biofuels, other
types of biomass energy and biochar will lead to ecological disaster.
But the Indian government has very strong goals for increasing renewables capacity: 100GW of solar, 60GW of wind and
10GW of biomass energy by March 2022.
The opportunity for bamboo as a
source of biomass energy is immense and the biomass benefits of bamboo are impressive: from the same acreage, bamboo gives 4.5 times more biomass than eucalyptus.
Right now, several companies are producing wood pellets — a
form of biomass energy that is burned in European power plants — out of trees from clear - cut forests in the American South.
While gasification would increase the energy efficiency of pulp and paper plants, the industry as a whole would not become a net
exporter of biomass energy (Farahani et al., 2004).
«Unquestionably, by providing certainty for the treatment of biomass throughout the agency's permitting decisions, the
use of biomass energy will be bolstered, to the benefit not only to the forest products industry but to the environment as well, while furthering the Administration's goal of energy dominance,» he wrote.
Changes in land use are influenced primarily by the demand for cropland and grassland (to supply plant and animal food to the world population) and by the
role of biomass energy.
A concern of many environmentalists is that the use
of biomass energy will decimate the forests.
New generations
of biomass energy — ones that do not rely on food crops, unlike the mistaken strategy of making ethanol from corn — are extremely promising.