Biomass as an Alternative Energy

Energy use in the United States, especially energy use in California, predicts disasters in our environment. Due to the high demand for fossil fuels, air is contaminated every day. In addition, it can increase the possibility of global warming. As fossil fuels are produced from raw materials, these raw materials are simple and inexpensive, so users are increasingly relying on them. The main problem with fossil energy is that the supply of fossil fuels is not continuous.

Renewable energy is the energy generated by natural resources such as sunlight, wind power, and biomass fermentation. These alternative energy sources do not harm the environment or exhaust natural resources. In fact, these available energy sources come from their ability to replenish their own energy, so they are depicted as infinite energy. Renewable energy is also regarded as clean or green as it does not produce pollutants or toxins harmful to the environment. The main obstacle to the use and management of wind energy is the flaw in the current transmission system that distributes power from the best resource site in the isolated area to the location used in the metropolitan area. In the case of solar energy, it is very difficult to capture sunlight over a wide range. In addition, the energy of certain places changes depending on the weather and cloud conditions.

Biomass is one of the most promising, most abundant, most utilized renewable energy sources in the United States. Alternative energy is a new concept, but biomass energy has existed for thousands of years. Biomass means any organic material that can be used to generate energy. Trees, grasslands, buried waste and animal waste can be used to generate this energy. Biomass obtains energy by photosynthesis of light and stores it as energy. Approximately 3% to 4% of US energy comes from biomass (Marc Lallanilla, p. 1). Biomass can be directly converted into heat by burning, such as burning timber in a fireplace. Biomass can also be converted to fuel sources such as ethanol gasoline made from corn and methane gas made from animal waste (Marc Lallanilla, p. 1).