Biomass
Biomass is…
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Biomass power is important because……it contributes positively to our nation’s goal of becoming energy independent, it is less harmful to the environment than our current methods, and it creates sustainable jobs and promote local economy. It is the nation’s second most popular form of renewable energy, providing electricity for two million American homes and is the fourth leading energy source in the world. Using biomass power cashes in on two of the biggest strengths of the U.S. – farmland and forests, and it also enables material that would otherwise sit in a landfill to be recycled and turned into energy. Wood-fired plants provide a cost competitive, and environmentally conscious alternative to fossil fuel-fired plants. The benefits of using biomass electricity are abundant; it provides sustainable jobs in local communities, not only for the plants themselves, but for support industries such as construction, fuel handling, and transportation. In addition to stimulating local economy, it plays a part in decreasing our nation’s dependence on imported energy and provides a clean, sustainable way of doing so. Increasing the use of biomass in the United States will reduce air pollution, greenhouse gases and reliance on imported sources of energy. Biomass power is the future in energy, environment, and economics for the U.S., and Rollcast is committed to using the resources we have to create a clean, sustainable, local, and long-term solution for our nation’s energy demands.
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Biomass power is……electricity produced as a result of the conversion of biomass materials into energy. There are a number of different methods of translating biomass into energy, each with its own benefits. The most widely used conversion method is through a steam cycle. Biomass is burned in a boiler to make steam, and the steam turns a turbine that is connected to a generator that produces electricity. Another popular way of harnessing the energy of biomass is co-firing. In plants that use the co-firing method, the biomass and coal are burned together in a boiler to produce steam and electricity. Co-firing is a great way to utilize existing coal plants to include biomass as a fuel source, and it dramatically reduces the harmful emissions that coal-only plants produce. Biomass can be harvested in two ways – in a closed loop process, plants such as switchgrass, poplar, and willow are grown specifically for use in a biomass power plant. In an open-loop process, material like wood chips and poultry litter is used for energy. In either process, the positive impact on the environment is huge. |
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