We have always been dependent on oil for about a century but what will we use when we start to run out? As oils is becoming harder to extract and to find we keep looking for newer and cleaner alternatives. Many people think we can produce energy for years with coal or nuclear power, but both of those types do just as much problem to the environment like oil. While the sun and the wind may be a good source of energy for the future but there is another great source of energy that does not have to depend on the environment. Biomass is energy produced from plant and animals waste. Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis. This chemical is passed onto animals when they eat plants and then to humans when
we eat animals. It can either be used directly via combustion to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel. It is the oldest source of renewable energy and was used by our ancient ancestors since they learned how to use fire. Biomass can be turned into fuel from burning wood, crops, animal manure, and human sewage. The chemical energy in biomass is released as heat when it is burned. The wood you burn in a fireplace is a biomass fuel. Wood and waste materials made from wood and garbage are burned to produce steams to produce electricity or heat. Burning it is not the only way to release its energy. Biomass can be converted into other usable forms of energy such as methane gas, transportation fuel like ethanol and biodiesel. Garbage and agricultural and human waste release methane gas also known as landfill gas or biogas. We can use the methane released to make natural gas since methane is the main ingredient in natural gas. Crops such as corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce
ethanol. Biodiesel and other transportation fuels can be made from vegetable oils and animal fats. So how helpful is biomass? In 2013 biomass provided about 5% of the energy used in the United States. Out of that 5% about 45% was from wood and woodland derived biomass. The next was from biofuels (44%). And about 11% was from municipal waste. Although biofuels are just about as important as wood researchers are trying to find new ways to use more biomass for fuel. Wood is a great way to produce energy but at the rate that we use energy we could have to limit on how much we use. Wood had always been used as a fuel source for thousands of years. It was the main source of energy in the United States up until the mid-1800's. It still continues to be a popular source for cooking and heating in the United States. From 2005 to 20012 there was a 50% increase in the number of homes that use wood as the primary source of heating. Today in the United States 2% of the energy we use comes from wood and wood waste such as bark, sawdust, wood chips, wood scrap, and paper mill residues. About 80% of the wood and wood waste fuel in the United States is consumed by electric power producers and commercial businesses. It is not uncommon to see many
wood manufacturing plants using their own wood waste to generate their own steam and electricity. The other 20% of wood waste in the United States is used in homes. What if i told you that we can solve two problems at a time? Well we can by converting garbage into energy yes garbage! In 1960 the average American threw away 2.7 pounds of trash a day. Today each American throws away about 4.4 pounds of trash every day! Of that 1.5 pounds are recycled or composted, but what should we do with the rest? Should we let it just pile up in a landfill? One option is to burn it. Since 85% of our household trash is material that will burn and mostly bogenic or material that is made from biomass. Garbage (MSW) is taken to special burning facilities called waste-to-energy plants. There are about 86 of these plants in the United States that generate electricity from steam harvested from the heat of burning garbage. In 2011 these plants generated 14 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, which is the same used by 1.3
million homes in the United States. Although these plants do make energy they cost more to generate electricity at these plants than it does at coal, nuclear, or hydro power plants it still has a major advantage. By burning waste it reduces the amount of garbage we have in landfills. In 2011 waste-to-energy plants burned 29 million tons of MSW. Burning MSW can reduce the volume of waste by 87%. Another form of biomass is biogas. In order to get biogas you need to collect gas from landfills. Landfills are a source of energy because anaerobic bacteria that live in landfills decompose organic waste to produce a gas called biogas that contains methane.Landfills collect the methane gas, treat it, and then sell it as a commercial fuel. It then can then be burned to generate steam and electricity. As of July 2013, there were 621 operational landfill gas projects in the United States. California had 77 landfill gas energy
projects in operation followed by Pennsylvania with 44 and Michigan with 41. With all of these great alternatives derived from biomass how much better are they for the environment? Biomass has its positives and its negatives like all most energy source there is. Using wood, and charcoal made from wood, for heating and cooking can replace fossil fuels and may result in lower CO2 emissions but burning wood in areas that where it is harvested faster than trees can grow it can lead to deforestation. By planting fast-growing trees and using fuel-efficient cooking stoves we can stop deforestation and improve the environment. Waste-to-energy plants can be hazardous to people and the environment because they release the chemicals and substances from the materials being burned. The U.S. EPA has applied strict rules to these plants and requires them to use air pollution control devices to capture their air pollutants. Although biomass can be produced into energy from many ways and it does have its drawbacks it has more positives. I can see biomass continuing to grow in the recent years. Biomass has recently supplied more renewable electricity (biopower) than both wind and solar power combined. And I wouldn't be surprised to see it continue since there would be a never ending supply of it just as long as humans are living.
With
the turn in the 20th century and modern day we are looking for new ways to
obtain power. Some of these new ways are simple and efficient like solar power
and some can be destructive and efficient like nuclear power. Nuclear power can
be very beneficial to the planet but it is nothing to take for granted. Nuclear
power is very dangerous and if one little mistake is made it can wipe out
hundreds of thousands of people. This is exactly what happened and it could of
have been a lot worse. On April 26, 1986 the world’s worst nuclear disaster
occurred. The Chernobyl power plant located in Ukraine blew up. The nuclear
reactor released a large amount of radiation into the environment. The wind and
weather during the release helped spread the plumes from Chernobyl to most of
Europe, but also the United States, Canada, and Japan. Only the Southern
hemisphere remained free of contamination. It all began on
Before explosion
April 25, 1986 when
the unit 4 of the plant was to be shut down for routine maintenance. The plant Operators
disabled plant equipment including the automatic shutdown mechanisms according
to the U.N. Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). At 1:23 a.m. on April 26,
when extremely hot nuclear fuel rods were lowered into cooling
water an immense amount of steam was created. It created
more re-activity in the nuclear core of reactor number 4. The power surge
created an immense explosion that detached the 1,000 ton plate that covered the
reactors core.
After explosion
Radiation
was released into the atmosphere and it cut off the flow of coolant
into the reactor. Just a few seconds later a second explosion of even greater
power than the first blew the reactor building apart and spewed burninggraphite and other parts of the reactor Core
around the plant. This started several fires around the damaged reactor and
reactor number 3 while it was still operating. The explosion killed 2 plant
workers who were the first to die within hours of the accident. The death toll
increased in the coming days because people contracted radiation sickness. On
April 27, the city of Pripyat was evacuated 36 hours after the accident.
It was too late by that time many people were suffering from symptoms of
radiation sickness. Officials closed off an 18-mile area around the plant
residents were told they would be able to return in a few days so many left
their personal belongings behind. Four months after the accident 28 more power
plant workers died. This included a number of heroic workers who risked their
life and knew the dangers of exposing themselves to radiation in order to
prevent the plant from further radiation leaks. At the time of the explosion
winds were coming in from the south.
Much of the radiation plume traveled
northwest towards Belarus and Russia. The accident contaminated wide parts of
Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine. Many children and adolescents in the area in
1986 drank milk contaminated with radioactive iodine, which delivered
substantial doses to their thyroid glands. It is believed that
more than 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer may eventually be linked to
radiation exposure in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. It is difficult to know
the precise number caused by the accident though. It's pretty
outstanding that the rate of cancer deaths and other health effects
related to Chernobyl's radiation leak is lower than was initially
feared. Of the 5 million people that were living in contaminated zones
only received a small dose of radiation.
Experts believe the fear of radiation actually led to more suffering
than radiation itself. For example many doctors advised pregnant women to have
abortions to avoid giving birth to children with birth defects or
disorders. The level of radiation that these women were exposed to was too low
to
Restricted area map
cause any problems. The United Nations published a report on the Chernobyl
accident that said it was "full of unsubstantiated statements that
have no support in scientific assessments,” Despite the accident the plant
continued to operate until the last reactor was shut down in December 2000. The
plant and ghost towns of Pripyat, Chernobyl, and the
area surrounding the plant is called the "zone of alienation" and is off-limits to humans. The
Exclusion Zone was set up to restrict access to hazardous
areas, reduce the
spread of radiation contamination and for monitoring activities.
This exclusive zone covers 1000 square miles. There are some
exceptions a couple hundred residents returned to their homes despite the risk
of radiation. In 2011 the area was opened up for tourism. The area today is
thriving with wildlife. Wolves, deer, lynx, beaver, eagles, boar, elks, bears,
and other animals populate the dense woods area around the
plant. Animals with high levels of cesium-137 in their bodies, are known to
occur. Even though animals can live in the area it is not safe to say that the
area has returned to normal, or will be at any point in the future. Because of
the long-lived radiation in that zone it could take up to 20,000 years for
humans to safely inhabit the
area. Chernobyl was not prepared for such a thing, I don't think no one could of have been prepared. Being more cautious would of have prevented the accident though. Ever since the accident here in the United States we have improved our nuclear power plants in case of an emergency and we have made sure how to act if such thing would happen. Chernobyl was vulnerable because a large amount of people were living around the plant. In the United States we have isolated our plants a bit more from civilization and have evacuation plans in place if such thing would happen.
We have always been dependent on oil for about a century but what will we use when we start to run out? As oils is becoming harder to extract and to find we keep looking for newer and cleaner alternatives. Many people think we can produce energy for years with coal or nuclear power, but both of those types do just as much problem to the environment like oil. While the sun and the wind may be a good source of energy for the future but there is another great source of energy that does not have to depend on the environment. Biomass is energy produced from plant and animals waste. Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis. This chemical is passed onto animals when they eat plants and then to humans when
