World largest power plant employing Biomass is Drax, UK, which has installed capacity of 3960 MW with 1320 MW from Biomass.
Drax generates 8 TWh energy from Biomass Per year.
which is tantamount to 22 GWh/day.
The potential calculation for Biomass:
Average irradiation on earth= 1500 kWh/m^2/year
=171 W/m^2
Photosynthetic efficiency is quite low= 0.4% only
So, Power density of tree= 171*0.4%= 0.68 W/m^2
Thermal conversion efficiency= 25%= 0.68*25%= 0.171 W/m^2
Energy density= 0.171*24*365/1000= 1.5 kWh/ year/m^2
The overall efficiency comes out to be only 0.1%.
Products:
Biofuels= Ethanol, extensively used in brazil
Biogas= Methane, Methane is a green-house gas (GHG). The global warming potential of methane is 72 times higher than global warming potential of CO2 for the period of 20 years. Methane contributes 7-9% to global warming.
Note: Algae has higher photosynthetic efficiency than crops so better for biomass energy conversion.
The average carbon footprint of Biomass plant is 230 gCO2/ kWh, much higher than other renewables but much lower than the coal-fired power plant.
Global capacity= 93 GW
= 433 TWh/ year
=1.9% of global energy demand
= 7.6% of all renewables
Besides electricity, more energy is in the form of thermal energy,
Global thermal capacity= 305 GW
= 2300 TWh/ year
= 12500 TWh/ year including cooking, heating, transportation
All Biomass in combine accounts for 12 % of the global energy use and 63% of the renewable energy shares.
= 1.69 kWh/person/day
= 0.58 Human Unit
Drax generates 8 TWh energy from Biomass Per year.
which is tantamount to 22 GWh/day.
The potential calculation for Biomass:
Average irradiation on earth= 1500 kWh/m^2/year
=171 W/m^2
Photosynthetic efficiency is quite low= 0.4% only
So, Power density of tree= 171*0.4%= 0.68 W/m^2
Thermal conversion efficiency= 25%= 0.68*25%= 0.171 W/m^2
Energy density= 0.171*24*365/1000= 1.5 kWh/ year/m^2
The overall efficiency comes out to be only 0.1%.
Products:
Biofuels= Ethanol, extensively used in brazil
Biogas= Methane, Methane is a green-house gas (GHG). The global warming potential of methane is 72 times higher than global warming potential of CO2 for the period of 20 years. Methane contributes 7-9% to global warming.
Note: Algae has higher photosynthetic efficiency than crops so better for biomass energy conversion.
The average carbon footprint of Biomass plant is 230 gCO2/ kWh, much higher than other renewables but much lower than the coal-fired power plant.
Global capacity= 93 GW
= 433 TWh/ year
=1.9% of global energy demand
= 7.6% of all renewables
Besides electricity, more energy is in the form of thermal energy,
Global thermal capacity= 305 GW
= 2300 TWh/ year
= 12500 TWh/ year including cooking, heating, transportation
All Biomass in combine accounts for 12 % of the global energy use and 63% of the renewable energy shares.
= 1.69 kWh/person/day
= 0.58 Human Unit
