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99,999 BCE
Biomass is the oldest energy
Biomass is said to be the oldest source of energy in the world, evidence of humans burning wood can be trased back 400,000 years ago. This is clearly a significant event as it marks the first use of fire- a very useful tool indeed. -
Biofuels
Biofuels are essentially fuels made out of organic materials, such as rape seed oil or peanut oil. Some were used as lantern oil by the Americans in 1800. The first diesel engine made by Rudolf Diesel ran on peanut oil, as a cheaper option than pure more refined petrol. -
Pre-industrial revolution
Prior to the industrial revolution, almost all human needs were met with biomass, however with the introduction of oil and coal, biomass started to be seen as a lesser source of power. This is an important point as it lead to much more polution and the shunning of biomass.(biomass power is carbon neutral as long as you replant) -
Charcoal
Charcoal was invented and produced Ellsworth B. A. Zwoyer of Pennsylvania in 1897. Charcoal was and is still a very good sorce of biomas power as it is small and light while still carrying lots of energy.
There are many different types of charcoal, including: Common charcoal- it can be made from wood, coal, and coconut shells
Japanese charcoal- pyroligneous acid is removed in the making of the charcoal, therefore making the charcoal release less smoke and pollution. To name a few. -
Model T car
Henry Ford designed the model T car that was produced from 1903 to 1926. This car was completely designed to use hemp derived biofuel as fuel. However, with the exploitation of huge supplys of crude oil in some parts of the US, petroleum became very cheap, thus leading to the downfall of biofuels as they were more expensive. -
Black Friday bushfires
The black Friday bushfires were some of the worst. The energy of thousands of trees manifesting into a horrifically devastateing force. Biomass is about consuming organic or waste material and turning it into power. However bushfires are essentially nature's biomass wepons of mass destruction, converting the trees energy into a firey wall of hate. Bushfires have a devastateing effect and tell us that not all forms of biomass are ok. -
WW2
During wold war II, there was a high demand for biofuels, as there was a serious shortige of mineral oil fuel. It was during this time that other inventions took place like the use of gasoline along with alcohol from potatos. Britain was the second country that came up with the concept of grain alcohol mixed with petrol. -
Biomass got it's name
It wasn’t until the 1970s that Bio mass fuels officially got its name. Up until this point biomass fuels were simply the everyday fuel source used which wasn’t a petroleum product or a fossil fuel. Bio mass fuels are a renewable resource. -
Move to biofuels
A fuel crisis again hit countries during 1973 - 1979, there was a cut in exports to the non OPEC nations. The constant shortage of fuel attracted the attention of the various academics and governments to the issues of energy crisis and the use of biofuels. The twentieth century came with the attention of the people towards the use of biofuels. Some of the main reasons for the people shifting their interest to biofuels were the rising prices of oil and emission of the greenhouse gases. -
Current use of biomass
Today, biomass power is commonly used by roughly 2 billion people in poor areas,in Ethiopia biomass produces 95% of all energy. Biofuels made from alge are also in development, provideing more options for renewable energy to places with lots of water. -
Bibliography
Bibliography:
Fuels in the environment by Denise Walker
http://www.ducksters.com/science/environment/biomass_energy.php
Biofuel.org.uk
Wikipedia -
How biomass works
The Biomass plant Produces electricity and heat by burning biomass in a boiler. Wood chips, residues and biofuels (to name a few) are Burned to boil water, this water then turns to steam thus pushing a turbine to generate electricity. This is the exact same processes as Fossils fuel and nuclear, with the differences being in the way the water is heated.
