Prof. Monish Gunawardana
17 August 2007
Windhoek — International University of Management - Namibia
Nations' access to core-energy resources (i.e. coal, gas and oil and nuclear) is decided by their economic power. There is a strong correlation between a country's energy use and human development status.
In 2000, per capita use of energy in North America was 280 gigajoules (gigajoule: one billion units of energy) while a person in Sub-Saharan Africa used only 25 gigajoules.
Nearly 80% of people without access to electricity live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The only affordable energy resources for the poor to cook and heat are firewood, crop-residues and dung.
They are called 'biomass'.
We can define biomass as 'a type of renewable energy that includes trees, plants and crops, bio-degradable garbage (solid waste) and liquid fuel originated from agricultural products'. Some of the energy sources for biomass are landfills, biofuels, and ethanol.
Biomass gasification is an environmental friendly energy technology.
Women & Children
Firewood remains as a popular biomass in rural areas. However, firewood is not freely available. Deforestation, adverse agricultural practices (slash and burn), industrialization and climate change have made firewood an expensive and scare resource for the cash-strapped poor.
Few decades ago, villagers collected firewood freely. Nowadays, in resources-depleted areas in Southern Africa, women and children spend around five hours and walk many kilometres to collect firewood.
This weakens the health of women and education and the physical growth of children. The lack of electricity and fuel reinforce gender imbalance in developing countries.
Organic Mass
The creator of all biomass is the powerful sun. Green plants absorb the energy of the sun. This absorption-process of the plants is known as photosynthesis.
The chemical composition of biomass varies among species, but plants consist of about 25% lignin and 75% carbohydrates or sugars.
The photosynthesis process transforms the sun's radiant energy into chemical energy in the form of sugar or glucose in plants.
Power-packed plants provide food and energy for humans and animals. Wood, crops, crop residues, manure and garbage are good examples of biomass.
More than 200,000 years ago, our earliest ancestors discovered fire and burned biomass (wood) to cook and heat, and protect their lives from dangerous wild beasts.
Wood can be used to generate heat to cook foods as well as to produce heat for electricity generation.
Biomass is a renewable energy, because we can grow more trees and agricultural crops, and collect vast amounts of agricultural residue and garbage.
Biomass can be burned and generate electricity.
Wood Power
Wood was an energy source that existed in the earliest days of our ancestors who were hunters, gatherers and mostly cave dwellers.
It was an easily available heating agent and continues to be used in this digital age, mainly in rural areas in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
In addition, technologically advanced United States of America still uses wood-based materials (lumber pieces, sawdust and tree bark) to generate energy.
It is estimated that 19% of wood-based energy of the US is consumed by households for cooking and heating and 81% of that energy is utilized by the industries, commercial establishments and service sectors.
Presently, there is nearly 8,000 megawatt of electricity generated by biomass in the US.
American wood-based industries such as sawmills, chipboard factories and paper-manufacturing plants widely use their own biomass (i.e. wood chips, sawdust) to generate their own electricity.
This is an exemplary way to manage wood waste in an environmentally friendly manner.
Biomass Contribution
Biomass is a member of the renewable energy family that silently contributes to the energy security of nations by reducing dependency on fossil fuels.
According to the International Energy Agency, in 2003, fossil fuels use accounted for 89% in nations with transitional economies and biomass accounted for 60% in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Department of Energy in the US has developed an effective technology for converting plant-derived biomass materials to energy.
The World Energy Outlook (WEO: 2005) notes that traditional biomass presently accounts for 7% of the world energy demand.
However, its share will decrease as developing countries move to modern forms of energy. Moreover, biomass-based electricity will triple between today and 2030.
Fast-growing trees, switch grass, sugar cane and its residues are regarded as the future viable agents for biomass fuel. Additionally, urban solid waste materials such as discarded papers, clothes, and other bio-degradables are suitable for the production of biomass energy.
Pro-Poor Energy
Human involvement in transport, energy generation, agriculture, industries and solid waste produce large volumes of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
Greenhouse gases trap the heat from the sun instead of letting it radiate into space, and make the earth hot. This global warming process melts the polar ice caps causing sea levels to rise, frequenting disastrous droughts, floods and hurricanes. Moreover, unpredictable wild weather conditions created by global warming and other environmental factors accelerate poverty in developing countries.
It is wise to reduce the use of carbon-based energy resources (coal, oil, gas) and increase the use of renewables like solar, wind, biomass and nuclear power.
Their carbon-emission rate, in relation to fossil fuels, is relatively very low. Besides that, biomass not only reduces global warming but its energy can be used to increase the income and health of the rural and urban poor.
Anyhow making green energies such as biomass cheaper, deserve further research, development and deployment.
Other Side
Now we are encountering the current energy crisis that was induced by rising prices and an unpredictable supply of fossil fuels.
Considering their adverse impact on global economic growth and the environment, it is logical to focus on green and alternative sources.
This is why most of energy policy makers are revisiting nuclear and renewables as next generation energy resources. Besides that, the renewables such as biomass are not immune to scrutiny.
Biomass, mainly, in the form of plant materials, uses carbon to mature and the biosphere acts as a sponge for that carbon. When there is excessive carbon, for instance, that was initiated by deforestation, the atmosphere retains an excessive amount of carbon.
In addition, it increases global warming. By considering the biomass life cycle, all biomass energies produce carbon gasses. Also, due to population growth, deforestation, drying water sources and long drought periods, biomass is becoming an expensive and scare resource.
In order to ensure the sustainable supply of biomass, it is vital to promote reforestation and environmental preservation measures. Nevertheless, biomass emits little greenhouse gasses compared to coal, gas or oil.
Biomass energy has helped our distant ancestors since their early days. And currently it is the energy of the poor. Anyhow, the benefits of biomass outweigh its minor disadvantages.
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