Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

For more information visit: www.esf.edu/willow or www.esf.edu/eo

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

Willow Biomass Trials at the SUNY ESF Genetics Field Station in Tully, New York

Extra Resources: This icon will represent other websites that reference the topic being discussed in the paper. The matching website can be found at the end of the paper for aquick reference. We have made an effort not to replicate the material available, therefore the paper will not go in ton detail on the points where the icons are found This icon will appear when there are other teaching resources provided within these modules to investigate a point presented in this paper.
Scientific work is like building a home. A solid foundation is formed and then one brick is placed on

the next until the building is constructed. The foundation was created by scientists centuries ago. The bricks represent individuals thoughts and work contributing to the building of our scientific knowledge base. As one persons work interfaces with the next persons ideas, advances in knowledge continue to accrue. Together, the whole becomes more than the parts. At times, a magnificent illuminating brick appears as one individual makes a remarkable discovery. The individuals work and discovery build on what we know. The questions we ponder today such as, Is our atmosphere warming? How much is it warming? At what rate is it occurring? What will be the affects of the warming on our world? These are thoughts and questions considered and discussed by scientists for over 200 years. Svante Arrhennius was a Swedish chemist who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He constructed a model to answer his question, Is the mean temperature of the ground in any way influenced by the presence of heat absorbing gases in the atmosphere? He was one of the first recorded people to investigate the role of atmospheric gases on temperature. Svante Arrhenius relied on other scientists observations and experiments to help build his ideas. (Josef Stefan, Arvid Gustaf Hogbom, Samuel Langley, Leon Teisserenc de Bort, John Tyndall) Svante applied his basic knowledge of scientific principles to make sense of existing observations.

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

The original intent of Arrhennius and his colleagues was to understand how an ice age could take place on the earth. Today we ponder the same questions as we try to understand what will happen as the earths climate warms. Interestingly, Arrhennius concluded that as industry continued to grow so would the atmospheric warming trend due to atmospheric gases. He hypothesized that this would have a positive effect on the world. He thought that the increased temperatures would extend growing seasons and allow for more food production thus the world would be able to feed a growing population. Svante Arrhennius made his conclusions about the positive effect of the atmosphere warming near the beginning of the industrial revolution. While machinery and the use of fossil fuels have saved a great deal of time and labor, their use has changed the earths climate. The extensive use of coal, natural gas, and oil are rapidly increasing the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Today, we are concerned about what negative effects may occur if atmospheric temperatures continue to rise. Why Worry? The Effects of Global Warming The concerns about global warming are continuing to intensify. A summary of the concerns about the effects of global warming includes changes in, oceans temperatures, glacial ice melting, sea level rising, coastal environments, global weather patterns, the number and intensity of severe storms, patterns of El Nino, and climate patterns that will effect food production, etc. The list is extensive and is growing. The more we understand the problems associated with a warming atmosphere the more alarming the issues become. Review of the Concepts Behind Global Warming: Global warming occurs when greenhouse gases: methane, ozone, carbon dioxide, CFCs and nitric oxide absorb the radiated infrared energy given off by the surface of the earth. A greenhouse effect is essential to sustaining life on our planet. Did you know that if we did not have any green house gases in our atmosphere, the temperature on earth would be about 33 degrees centigrade cooler (or 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler). Mars, which only has a small amount of CO2 in its atmosphere, has an average surface temperature of 60 degrees centigrade. Too much global warming due to greenhouse gases is also a big concern. Venus with a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide has an average surface temperature of 470 degrees centigrade (Alter,L., 1991).

Inner Planets CO2 Atmospheric Level vs. Average Surface Temperatures

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact..html Langley Data Center Services Department: N. Silvers larc@eos.nasa.gov We can obtain helpful ideas about the earth by observing facts about the neighboring planets in our solar system. We can use this information to help us solve our current problems. How to solve the problem: To help with the global warming issues, we need to concentrate on the factors that can be controlled. One of the major factors that we can control is the amount of infrared absorbing gases we add to the atmosphere. If we reduce the use of nonrenewable resources like coal, oil, and natural gas and use more renewable resources, we can slow down the global warming trend. Bioenergy /Biomass: What is it? Renewable energy is any energy source that can be either replenished continuously or within a moderate timeframe, as a result of natural energy flows. The so-called renewables include biomass, wind, hydro, geothermal, and solar thermal power. Biomass is all plant and animal matter on the Earths surface. Harvesting biomass such as crops, trees or dung and using it to generate energy, that is heat, electricity or motion, is Bioenergy. Biomass can be split into two categories, those coming from animals and those starting from plants. The most commonly used biomass sources are those starting from the plants. Some of the more common sources are listed in the chart below. Additional reference sites are listed below each category

Major Types of Biomass

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

Biofuels and Biopower Biomass from plants can be used to make a liquid fuel source similar to the gas or diesel fuel we use in our vehicles. This form of liquid bioenergy is termed biofuels. Biopower is the term used for biomass material used to replace fossil fuels like natural gas or coal to produce electricity Biomass was the first fuel that humans learned to use. (Consider the first fires of people created by burning wood for warmth and cooking.) Modern bioenergy is clean, efficient and sustainable. Bioenergy is quietly becoming more important all the time. In choosing a renewable energy source to benefit our atmosphere, Biomass buoys itself towards the top of the list. Some of the reasons are: a) It maintains a CO2 closed loop cycle (it does not add any more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, see diagram below) b) It has a very high energy input to energy output ratio (see graph below) c) It is relatively easy to reconfigure current coal burning facilities to handle burning biomass fuels. d) Low technological development costs: The technologies needed are mostly in place and only fine-tuning is needed. e) The production of biomass crops benefits the rural economy by creating another farm crop.

CO2 Cycle

Atmospheric carbon dioxide, water and sunlight

Carbon dioxide released back into atmosphere

Converted into new plant material through photosynthesis

Harvested biomass is burned to produce energy

Adapted from: British BioGen Bioenergy 21st century fuel, power for the land http://www.britishbiogen.co.uk/

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

When willow is used as a biomass fuel source it is planted like a crop, grown for three years and then is harvested. The mass of wood harvested is chipped or processed for burning systems and used instead of coal to produce electricity, heat or both. The following year the willow sprouts again and begins a new three year growth cycle. The process is described as being 100% efficient at recycling the CO2 back into the cycle. The diagram above illustrates this process. How does growing willow help supply fuel for our energy needs? Biomass crops can be viewed as a large battery that collects and stores solar energy. In a battery, chemical energy is stored and is used to generate electricity at necessary times and intervals. Plants absorb their energy from the sun; convert it into chemically stored energy in the form of bonds within the sugars, carbohydrates, and lignin structures in the wood. These bonds are broken, releasing the stored energy during the burning process. During this cyclical energy process, CO2 is taken up during photosynthesis, bonded and stored during growth. When it is used for a fuel source it is released back into the environment. We call the complete cycle of growing, harvesting and use of the biomass a CO2 neutral process because all the CO2 that goes into growing the crop is the amount of C02 that comes out. It is also referred to as the CO2 closed loop cycle. For every 100g units of CO2 put into the willow biomass cycle, 5g of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. When the Willow biomass is burned for a fuel source 95g of the CO2 are taken up by the next generation of willow biomass crops growing in the field. The use of Willow for energy has a fairly high efficiency rate as well. For every 1-joule of energy used in the process 16 joules of energy are released. The system will always create more useable energy than it consumes because it is collecting and converting solar energy into biomass. When this ratio is compared to the energy in vs. energy out ratio for fossil fuels, willow biomass is way ahead. Willow biomass gets out about sixteen times more energy than fossil fuels. The question may come to mind, If energy is neither created nor destroyed then where is all of the extra energy coming from? The answer is the sun! The willows collect solar energy and store it as wood as they are growing.

Energy In to Energy Out Ratios for Fossil Fuels vs. Willow Biomass

(Mann & Spath 2000)

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

Willow Biomass A Renewable Source of Energy

Stored Solar Energy

The two factors, having a CO2 closed loop cycle, and having a high-energy efficiency make willow biomass a viable and promising source of renewable energy. Moving from a fossil fuel based economy to a more carbohydrate-based economy has many benefits for our world; the levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere will be stabilized, marginal farm lands can produce a market crop which helps local economies, toxic emissions are reduced. The principles associated with willow biomass crops can be applied all around the world using different crops. Closing Comments The students of today become the decision makers of our society tomorrow. Developing ideas and concepts now will help to build well-informed decision makers in the years to come. Learning about your own personal benefits and those that will affect generations of people to come will help to make the world a better place. We challenge you to learn, grow, be curious and most of all get involved in your world. People who care are the happiest people around. Make a difference by making great choices in your life.

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

There is a slide presentation provided that shows the process of growing Willow as Biomass from planting through to harvesting at the following location Place website address__________________________________ WEBLINKS State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry www.esf/Willow and Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information
The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

www.esf.edu/eo 1 Life of Arrhennius the scientist www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/library/giants/arrhennius.html hess@climate.gsfs.nasa.gov Webmaster Global Warming Davies, Terry. (1990, March/April) An Introduction EPA Journal 16. p2-3 An introduction to Global Warming Global Warming background information www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1993/5/93.05.02x.html verified April 18, 2002 Scientific American Article Is Global Warming Harmful To Health www.sciam.com/2000/0800issue/0800epstein.html. verified April 18, 2002. http://www.sciam.com/explorations/2002/010702aerosols/index.html Verified April 18, 2002. Set of ten short articles about the Warning Signs of Global Warming www.ucsusa.org title: Global Warming: Early Warning Signs Two Graphs: Fluctuations in CO2 and Temperature levels for the world over time www.Earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Giants/arrhenius.html Page 2 Verified April 18, 2002. Teacher information: This is a great place to work on the activity Climate Change in My City Other optional lessons include: Lesson2: Oral History Project: Climate then and now Lesson 3: Climate Change and Disease Lesson 4: Climate Change and Ecosystem See the teacher notes for the correlated NYS Standards to all of the above lessons Teacher Information: Have the students calculate the O C for the charts. (OK= 273oC) , another option would be to have the students graph the O C on the x axis to the % of CO2 in the planets atmosphere.

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Willow Biomass Educational Module Teacher Information The Benefits of Willow Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

Bioenergy Information Site http://www.britishbiogen.co.uk/ Biomass Energy / Alternative Energy Sources www.soton.ac.uk/engenvir/environment/alternative/hydropower/energy2.htm www.green-e.org/media_ed/teacher.html International Energy Agency www.iea.org/pubs/studies/files/benign/index.htm Biofuel Information http://www.ott.doe.gov/biofuels/what_are.html Bioenergy Fact Sheet http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/faqs/faqs.html

This is a great place to insert the lab on the CO2 closed loop cycle
Other Helpful Links American Biomass Association Fact Sheet on Bioenergy http://www.biomass.org/fact_sheet_1.htm National Renewable Energy Laboratory http://www. nrel.gov/research/industrial_tech/biomass.html Biomass Chemical and Photosynthesis process in the plants/trees http://www.science.org.au/nova http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming http://www.geo.mtu.edu/rs/back/spectrum http://www.smgaels.org/physics/home.htm http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/ed/sw/Tofc.htm http://www.climatehotmap.org http://www.green-e.org/media_ed/teacher.html http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/lessons/earthday.html http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/bfdpmain.html http://www.science.org.au/nova/039/039box02.htm http://www.nrel.gov/research/industrial_tech/biomass.html http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/ http://starfire.ne.uiuc.edu/~ne201/1996/panetton/index.html http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Giants/Arrhenius/arrhenius.html http://www.biomass.org/fact_sheet_1.htm http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/lessons/earthday.html http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1993/5/93.05.02x.html http://www.sciam.com/2000/0800issue/0800epstein.html http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html http://www.nrel.gov/st-it.html http://www.esf.edu/willow http://www.soton.ac.uk/~engenvir/environment/alternative/biomass/source.htm http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/faqs/faqs.html

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