E+Block+-+Biomass

Before coal was first mined, biomass was the first source of energy used. The simplest form of biomass is burning wood to gain heat. Bio mass is created from plants and natural waste from animals (“Benefits”). Well, you may be asking how does burning wood create energy. Other than the most common use of heat, if you place water in a tank then heat that water to create steam, you use that to turn turbines and create electricity to power homes and other things. The materials needed to create biomass are formed in nature and because of this it does not create harmful carbon dioxide when burned like fossil fuels create. Wood is one example of a biomass fuel but other crops like corn and __#|wheat grasses__ can be used. Even trash can be used as biomass! There are different forms of biomass. Biomass materials create briquettes that replace charcoal. Briquettes are one type of biomass that in the future should replace coal in power plants to create steam. Another type of biomass is Gasification. “Gasification is technology developed to convert carbon based solid fuels to a gaseous form containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen” (“What is Gasification?’). The chemical formula for Gasification is “CH1.44 O0.66” (“Gasification Chemistry”). Another use of biomass is to create bio-fuels like Ethanol and Bio-diesel. These fuels can be used in cars instead of the use of gasoline.

**Pros:**
>>
 * Locally grown; relies on materials that do not have to be shipped from other countries or states.
 * #|Renewable energy.
 * Environment friendly fuel.
 * Low Cost.
 * They burn exactly like the fossil fuels. (Doesn't need a big transition between fossil fuel to biomass)
 * o This reduces the greenhouses gases in the atmosphere.

**Cons:**

 * The amount of energy put in to grow the fuel is not the same energy that comes out.
 * May use fuels that feed people, taking away from the third world countries.
 * Fuels are seasonal. Might not have the plants in the winter.
 * Still Releases Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere.
 * Takes acres and acres of land in order to grow fuels.
 * If overused, forest and other crops will be cut down and have less of these materials.
 * In New Mexico, there isn't enough material (wood, crops, etc.).
 * [[image:http://prod-http-80-800498448.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/w/images/thumb/0/01/NREL-eere-biomass-h-newmexico.pdf/page1-463px-NREL-eere-biomass-h-newmexico.pdf.jpg caption="The amount of materials in NM. The darker the green the more materials."]][[image:http://www.technebraska.com/wp-content/uploads/BiomassMap1.jpg width="834" height="645" caption="The amount of materials found throughout the United States."]]

**Info. On the Science:**
The basics of biomass is ripping apart nature’s waste like dead trees and animals’ waste and combining them into little things called briquettes. In the development of these biomass briquettes, the materials are placed under pressure. This equation shows what happens to the material. C + heat → char + tar + CH4 + HCs. Then just like coal, there placed on fire to create energy. This process is a combustion chemical reaction. In the development of energy, biomass and coal has been burned to make the turbines move to create energy. This equation shows what happens when during a Bio Mass combustion. CH1.44O0.66 + 1.03 O2 = 0.72 H2O + CO2 (+Heat) This equation shows that the biomass reacts with the oxygen in the air to create water vapors, carbon dioxide and heat.media type="custom" key="21759768"

**Usage in New Mexico:**
On July 31, 2006, Power New Mexico (PNM) and other organizations have agreed to increase the amount of __#|renewable energy__ that the New Mexico grid uses. In 2009, the plant was scheduled to be up and running by 2009 under the ownership of the Westerners who lived near Estancia, New Mexico. This is the first biomass power plant in New Mexico. PNM is mandatory to produce or purchase at less 10 percent of the electricity used by their customers. Recently PNM brought a wind project that increased the percent of renewable energy used in the grid to about twenty percent. With the increasing number of population, PNM wants to make the change to a larger electrical usage of renewable energy so later in the future the transition between fossil fuels to renewable energy will not be as difficult where as if our energy is completely reliant on fossil fuels. In this biomass power plant, it will create enough energy to power 25,000 average New Mexico’s homes.

**Current Information on Technology:**
All though biomass can be made from wastes and residues, forest industries and agriculture are the main provides of biomass materials. **Image of a Screw Type Formatore** 1. Motor 2. Reduction gear 3. Bearing 4. Compression room 5. Hopper 6. Chill room 7. Heating ring 8. Contracting room 9. Mount” (“Equipment”) Ways to convert materials into biomass.
 * Converting bio mass into shaped fuel-the bio mass is crushed and heated to temperatures of 250- 350 degrees Celsius. Then the bio mass is placed under pressure at .5 to 1 t/cm 2 . In recent years the way to shape the bio mass is a grinder. The two types of grinders that are used are: desiccator and formatore. Formatore is the newer grinder and is a screw type. This screw type is a smaller grinder which does not make a lot of waste. The machine “can produce up to 200 kilos of shaped fuel per hour” (“Equipment”).
 * Thermal Conversion
 * Chemical Conversion
 * Biochemical Conversion
 * Other Chemical Processes

**Reflections**
This Wikispace project required more than just copying and pasting. My partner, Jonathan and I decide to separate the work to have the work done faster. In this project I research the science behind biomass and the usage in New Mexico. Jonathan researches the background information and added all the pictures. He created our wikispace account too. In the past I would have partners that I would have to worry about them getting their amount of work done on time. Sometimes I would even have to do some of their work, but this time around I didn’t have to worry at all. Jonathan is the best partner I have had. He did the map that required more attention than just searching online for one. Personally, Jonathan deserves a high grade for all his hard work in making the cons lists and making the ArcGIS map. Overall he deserves the same grade that I receive because he did the same amount of work and put the same amount of effort into this page as I did. In the Wikispace, me (Jonathan) and Marissa decide to split the work so that it was easier to get done. What I did not realize at first was that i had all the pictures and digrams to do. I also included a Cons list to go with her pros list. I added all the maps on the page, including the ArcGIS map. Marissa then edited the map to add more to it. We both worked on the introduction and background information, each adding more and more to it. Personally I think Marissa deserves a higher grade then me. She wrote more of the information, while added most of the pictures. She deserves the higher grade. Yeah I had the cons list, but she had a lot more of the load when it came to the writing part of this page. She had all the research and equations that were apart of this wiki. She is such a hard worker and deserves a higher percentage then me.
 * Marissa's**
 * Jonathan's**

** Work Cited! **
>> Biomass Energy Resources in the United States. (n.d.). Tribal Energy and Environmental Information Clearinghouse (TEEIC) Home Page. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://teeic.anl.gov/er/biomass/restech/dist/index.cfm >> >> > //APA formatting by BibMe.org. //
 * Biomass. (n.d.). //Energy.Gov//. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from energy.gov/science-innovation/energy-sources/renewable-energy/biomass
 * Biomass Briquettes. (n.d.). //Biomass, Biomass Fuel, Biomass Energy//. Retrieved December 15, 2012, from http://www.biomass.net/Biomass-Briquettes.html
 * Biomass Gasification | BEASL. (n.d.). //About us | BEASL//. Retrieved December 15, 2012, from http://www.bioenergysrilanka.org/biomass_gasification
 * Conversion technologies. (n.d.). //BioMass Energy Centre//. Retrieved December 13, 2012, from www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=75,15179&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
 * EMNRD Energy Conservation and Management. (n.d.). //New Mexico - Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department//. Retrieved December 15, 2012, from http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/ECMD/RenewableEnergy/biomass.html
 * News Releases. (n.d.). //PNM//. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from www.pnm.com/news/2006/073106_biomass.htm
 * The technology of converting biomass into shaped fuels. (n.d.). //FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, for a world without hunger//. Retrieved December 15, 2012, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/T4470E/t4470e0g.html
 * "Biomass energy pros and cons in a nutshell | Renewable Green Energy Power." Renewable Green Energy Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. .
 * " Biomass - Pros and cons." Biomass - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. .
 * File:NREL-eere-biomass-h-newmexico.pdf | Open Energy Information. (n.d.). Energy Information, Data, and other Resources | OpenEI. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://en.openei.org/wiki/File:NREL-eere-biomass-h-newmexico.pdf