What is Biomass

Biomass fuels come from things that once lived: wood products, dried vegetation, crop
residues, aquatic plants and even garbage. It is known as'Natural Material'. Plants used
up a lot of the sun's energy to make their own food (photosysnthesis). They stored the
foods in the plants in the form of chemical energy. As the plants died, the energy is
trapped in the residue. This trapped energy is usually released by burning and can be
converted into biomass energy.

Wood is a biomass fuel. It is renewable. As long as we continue to plant new trees to

replace those cut down, we will always have wood to burn. Just as with the fossil fuels,
the energy stored in biomass fuels came originally from the Sun.

It is such a widely utilized source of energy, probably due to its low cost and indigenous
nature, that it accounts for almost 15% of the world's total energy supply and as much
as 35% in developing countries, mostly for cooking and heating. (More reading on
Bioenergy or Biofuel here)

How is biomass converted into energy?

Burning:
This is a very common way of converting organic matter into energy. Burning stuff like
wood, waste and other plant matter releases stored chemical energy in the form of
heat, which can be used to turn shafts to produce electricity. Let's see this simple
illustration of how biomass is used to generate electricity.

1. Energy from the sun is transferred and stored in plants. When the plants are cut or
die, wood chips, straw and other plant matter is delivered to the bunker

2. This is burned to heat water in a boiler to release heat energy (steam).

3. The energy/power from the steam is directed to turbines with pipes

4. The steam turns a number of blades in the turbine and generators, which are made
of coils and magnets.

5. The charged magnetic fields produce electricity, which is sent to homes by cables.

Other ways in which organic matter can be converted into energy include:

Decomposition:
Things that can rot, like garbage, human and animal waste, dead animals and the like
can be left to rot, releasing a gas called biogas (also known as methane gas or landfill
gas). Methane can be captured by a machine called Microturbine and converted into
electricity. Sometimes, animal waste (poop) can also be converted into methane by a
machine called 'Anaerobic Digester'

Fermentation:
Ethanol can be produced from crops with lots of sugars, like corn and sugarcane. The
process used to produce ethanol is called gasification.

What is Wind Power?

Wind is caused by huge convection currents in the Earth's atmosphere, driven by heat
energy from the Sun. This means as long as the sun shines, there will be wind.

How do winds form? (Check out the lesson on winds here)

This can be explained in simple terms by the daily wind cycle.

The earth's surface has both land and water. When the sun comes up, the air over the
land heats up quicker than that over water. The heated air is lighter and it rises. The
cooler air is denser and it falls and replaced the air over the land. In the night the
reverse happens. Air over the water is warmer and rises, and is replaced by cooler air
from land.

The moving air (wind) has huge amounts of kinetic energy, and this can be transferred
into electrical energy using wind turbines. The wind turns the blades, which spin a
shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity. The electricity is sent
through transmission and distribution lines to a substation, then on to homes, business
and schools.

Wind turbines cannot work if there is no wind,

or if the wind speed is so high it would damage them.

Wind turbines are usually sited on high hills and mountain ridges to take advantage of
the prevailing winds.

Just like a windmill, wind energy turbines have been around for over 1000 years. From
old Holland to farms in the United States, windmills have been used for pumping water
or grinding grain. (More on Wind Energy here)

Wind energy takes advantage of kinetic energy in moving air (wind), to turn large blades
connected to a central hub. The blades (called rotors) are often made of fibre-glass, designed to
be aerodynamic and are mounted on a tower. Larger rotors have a larger ‘swept area’ and
produce more energy than shorter rotors. With wind action, the rotors turn shafts inside the hub
(which is made of metals, magnets and wires), which converts produces electricity. The
electricity is then delivered to a main power grid, which is further released for consumption

Water power

Moving water has kinetic energy. This can be transferred into useful energy in different
ways. Hydroelectric power (HEP) schemes store water high up in dams. The water
has gravitational potential energy which is released when it falls.

Let's see a good example of how water can be used to generate electricity.
As the water rushes down through pipes, this stored energy is transferred to kinetic energy,
which turns electricity generators.

The Dam is built to retain the water. More electricity is produced if the water is more
in the reservoir

Sluice Gates: These can open and close to regulate the amount of water that is
released into the pipes.

Potential energy in the retained water is transferred into kinetic energy by water
flowing through the pipes with high speed.

The force and high pressure in the water turns a series of shafts in a generator.
Spinning shafts in the generator charges millions of coils and magnets to create
electricity, which is regulated by a transformer. This is then transported via cables to
homes and factories.

To build a dam there has to be valleys and rivers that flow all year round. This will help
with the building and success of the dam. This way, the fullest effect of the waters
kinetic energy can be tapped.(Click for more on hydro energy)

Hydro-Power

Hydro-power (water) is one of the older electricity generating technologies around. It uses the
concept of kinetic energy in fast flowing water. In ancient Greece, wheat wheels were used in
farm hoses to mill wheat into flour. This concept remains the same, but the technology has
changed a lot.
Typically, a flowing river, stream or canal is blocked (dam) at a strategic point, usually at a
waterfall point, with the intention of holding the water back and storing the water in a reservioir.
The weight of the water that is held by the dam increases to a certain level, and then released
by opening the gates (Sluice gate). The high pressure water flowing downwards is used to turn
a series of blades or shafts in a generator made of coils and magnets. Electricity is generated.
The amount of power generated depends on how high the water is help upstream, the amount
of water turning the shafts and the general efficiency of the turbines.

Hydropower installations come in various sizes, but classified in 3 major sizes:

1. Micro Hydro Power: Capacity of up to 100kilowatts, usually installed to power homes or
farms
2. Small Hydro Power: Capacity of 100kilowatts up to 30 megawats.
3. Large Hydro Power: Capacity of more than 30 megawatts

Hydro energy is renewable in the sense that the water will not run out as long as water cycle
exists. It is also renewable because if has no carbon emissions in its production. However, it is
known to have some negative impact on water life and plants in the water, and also, there are
specific places along the river that can be dammed. Unlike solar energy, water energy
installations may not be available to countries with no fast flowing water.

It is worth noting that not all dams generate power. Dams may be built for various reasons such
as recreation, farm ponds, irrigation or water supply.
Geothermal energy
Deep down in the earth's crust, there is molten rock (magma). Molten rock is simply
rocks that have melted into liquid form as a result of extreme heat under the earth.
This can be found about 1800 miles deep below the surface, but closer to the surface,
the rocks layers are hot enough to keep water and air spaces there at a temperature of
about 50-60 degrees F (10-16 degrees C). Geothermal technology takes advantage of
the hot close-to-earth-surface temperatures to generate power.

In places with hotter 'close-to-earth-surface' temperatures, deep wells can be drilled

and cold water pumped down. The water runs through fractures in the rocks and is
heated up. It returns to the surface as hot water and steam, where its energy can be
used to drive turbines and electricity generators.(Note that there isn't any technology
that allows humans to tap the heat from molten rock yet. Maybe one day, there will be)

In other places, a geothermal heat pump system consisting of pipes and pumps buried
in the earth can be used to heat homes. This is done by opening up the system,
extracting the hot air to feed indoor air delivery system during the cold seasons. In the
USA, some geothermal systems can be found in Hawaii and Alaska.

Geothermal energy is called a renewable energy source because the water is

replenished by rainfall, and the heat is continuously produced by the earth.