Biomass Energy: An Overview

• Biomass refers to living or recently dead organisms and their byproducts, encompassing all living things
• In the context of biomass energy, it includes crops, residues, and biological materials that can substitute fossil fuels
• Biomass utilization for energy, such as fire, dates back to before humans inhabited Earth

Advantages

• Biomass from forests, croplands, waste, and landfills is an abundant and renewable resource
• Biomass regrows faster than fossil fuels, ensuring a continuous supply
• Biomass is considered carbon-neutral because plants absorb CO2 during growth, offsetting emissions from burning it
• Using waste materials like agricultural, industrial, and municipal waste reduces landfill waste and environmental pollution
• Landfills contaminate air, soil, and water and emit greenhouse gases
• Using biomass reduces dependence on imported fuels and enhances energy security, especially in organic-rich regions

Mechanisms for Creating Energy

• Biopower technologies convert renewable biomass fuels into heat and electricity, similar to fossil fuel processes
• The three methods to release stored energy in biomass is through burning, bacterial decay, and conversion to gas/liquid fuel

Burning

• Electricity is commonly generated through direct combustion of biomass, producing high-pressure steam to rotate turbine blades
• Turbine rotation drives a generator to produce electricity
• Biomass can co-fire with coal in existing power plants

Combustion of Raw Material

• Combustion of raw materials, like wood, generates steam for turbines in a common method
• Increased reliance on wood in biomass power plants stresses the importance of careful resource exploitation
• Bagasse, a residue of sugar cane production, is used instead of coal in thermal power plants

Gasification

• Gasification is an innovative thermochemical process that transforms solid biomass into combustible gas for various uses
• Raw material converts to gas, then used as fuel

Conversion to Gas/Liquid Fuel

• Biomass converts to gas or liquid fuel through gasification and pyrolysis
• Gasification exposes solid biomass to high temperatures with minimal oxygen, producing syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen
• Syngas can be burned in conventional boilers or used as a substitute for natural gas in combined-cycle gas turbines

Bacterial Decomposition

• Anaerobic digestion decomposes organic waste like animal dung or human sewage in oxygen-free tanks (digesters)
• Anaerobic bacteria produce methane and byproducts, forming renewable natural gas that is then purified and used to generate electricity

Methanization

• It's sometimes used by biomass power plants
• Organic materials like household waste, paper, cardboard, or manure undergo fermentation instead of burning

Pyrolisis

• Pyrolysis is similar to gasification but operates under different conditions
• Biomass is heated at lower temperatures without oxygen to yield crude bio-oil for fuel in furnaces, turbines, and engines

Biomass Plant Operation

• Electricity is produced from steam released during the combustion of plant or animal matter in a combustion chamber
• Combustion: Biomass is burned in a combustion chamber
• Steam Production: Heat from biomass boil water, converting it to steam, which is sent to turbines
• Electricity Production: Steam turns a turbine that drives an alternator, producing alternating electric current. A transformer increases voltage for easier transport
• Recycling: At turbine exit, steam is recovered for heating called cogeneration
• Remaining steam transforms into water via a condenser, recirculating it in the boiler for another cycle

Philippine Biomass Industry

• Rice farmers and millers are investing in biomass power
• Isabela Biomass Energy Corp. (IBEC) is constructing a 20-MW rice-husk-fired power plant in Alicia, Isabela, with funding from Banco de Oro
• Biomass power generation can revitalize agri-businesses

Victorias Milling Co. Inc.

• Victorias Milling is energizing for financial health with a P1.1 billion 40MW biomass power project using bagasse
• Located at the VMC agro-industrial complex in Victorias City, Negros Occidental province
• VMC's sugarcane usage can provide sufficient raw materials for the facility
• Victorias Green Energy Corp. (VGEC), subsidiary of VMC, will undertake its power projects
• VMC, one of the biggest suppliers of refined sugar in the Philippines, provides around 30% of the country's need of refined sugar
• VMC sources its raw materials from district and non-district planters via raw sugar purchases

Biomass Energy Potential in the Philippines

• The Philippines has abundant biomass resources from agricultural residue, forestry waste, and municipal solid waste
• The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates a biomass potential of over 200 MW in the country which could power near 30% of the energy to power the lives of more than 100 million Filipinos

Biomass Power Plant Locations in the Philippines

• San Carlos Biomass Power Plant, Negros Oriental, developed by San Carlos BioPower Electricity of 141GWh is generated, powering 212,000 households, offsetting 16,480 tons of CO2 annually. The feed is agricultural by-product is used

• Kabankalan Biomass Power Plant At Kabankalan City Negros Islands, the UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. inaugurated a 46-megawatt biomass power plant

• URC's sugar mill will use half the power plant's output and the other 23 MW will go to the national grid under a 25-year Department of Energy (DOE) operating contract

• Shin Nippon Machinery turbines are used in both phases: Phase I; 1 turbine, 16MW power and Phase II; 1 turbine, 30MW power

• Isabela Biomass Energy Corporation (IBEC) The rice husk fuelled power plant for Isabela Biomass generates 20 MW of power. It uses rice husk, corncobs, coconut shells, and corn stalk as feed for its 95% utilisation rate.

• San Jose Biomass Power Plant San Jose Biomass Power Plant is a 24MW biopower project in Central Luzon, Philippines. Commissioned in November 2015, it has since developed in multiple phases. It uses 100 percent rice husk

Future of Biomass Energy

• Biomass is expected to play a vital role in future energy-efficient power generation
• Carbon-neutrality carries many potentials, whether producing electricity, heat, or fuel for transport