Biomass can be defined as the total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area... Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be directly converted to liquid fuels, the bio fuel. The two most common type of bio fuel are ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is made by fermenting any biomass high in carbohydrates through a process similar to brewing beer. It is used as a fuel additive to cut down a vehicle's carbon monoxide and other smog causing emissions.
Biodiesel is made by combining alcohol with vegetable oil, animal fat or recycled cooking greases. It is used as an additive to reduce vehicle emissions or in its pure form as a renewable alternative fuel for diesel engines. With oil prices going through the roof, the so called bio fuel are at last alternative to gasoline and methanol and reformulated gasoline components. Gasification of biomass at high temperature produces methanol. Reformulated gasoline components produced from biomass are pollution reducing fuel additive.
China has constructed the world's largest fuel ethanol facility at Jilin. It uses corn, but Chinese bio fuel distillers are also experimenting with cassava, sweet potato and sugar cane. Surprisingly, bio fuel could help make hydrogen unnecessary. In a move to encourage bio fuel use, the Germany government has slashed taxes on them. Tests of an ethanol-diesel mixture in Stockholm's buses show that big, thirsty vehicles can use cheaper ethanol as well as biodiesel. Brazil is the world's biggest ethanol producer.
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The soaring price of crude oil and natural gas has also fuelled a race to find new sources for intermediate chemical compounds that are the starting material for many modern plastics, medicines and fabrics. Professor James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, usa and his colleagues have developed a cheap and efficient process to produce a chemical from fructose i.e. similar to crude oil. 0this would reduce our dependence on imported crude oil.
Researchers from US based Pennsylvania state university have developed an electricity generator that is fuelled by human waste. Microbial fuel as it is can be useful in fulfilling the energy requirements of the world and especially of the third world countries that are financially insecure. The system could produce 51 kilowatts of power from the waste of 100,000 people. Work is being done at national environmental engineering research institute (NEERI) Nagpur, Maharashtra, India developing the use of activated sludge to evaluate its potential as a source of microorganisms capable of producing biodegradable plastics.
Eventually, such utilization of biomass would go away long way in effective utilization of available resources for production of a value added resources for production of a value added product thus resulting in reduction of cost of the final product and at the same time solving the problem of waste disposal as well as environmental hazard.
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