Research Project ( part 2)

After hearing David Maywhoor's comments regarding the biomass energy production, I began to research more of the negative aspects that I had skipped over previously. I was under the impression that biomass and biofuels were a possible source of alternative energy. Many of the sources that I have come across so far in my search have appeared to be fairly good sources that discussed the negative and positive aspects of the biomass energy. I realize that David has a very strong mindset when it comes to using the trees as a fuels source , since he has seen the devastation and destruction that the clear cutting has caused. I still believe that there is still the possibility to use harvest the tree and other crops in a manner that is efficient and economical. The hardest part of the whole “Alternative Energy” movement is to address all of the negative aspects that each source brings to the table. One of the negative aspects that the Biomass energy has is that in the case of biofuels the production of the numerous forms of ethanol cause an increase demand for corn which drives the price of corn up. This is just one of the negative aspects I will have to address during my research. I have found the website for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory very useful in addressing some the technologies and studies that have been done regarding the Biomass energy. As an engineer I enjoy reading the technological theories that are addressed in their site, it makes logical sense to use materiak that we can grown in the US as a source for fuel. One of these specific theories in this site talkes bout creating “Bioefinerys” , the article describes them as “A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and chemicals from biomass. The biorefinery concept is analogous to today's petroleum refineries, which produce multiple fuels and products from petroleum. Industrial biorefineries have been identified as the most promising route to the creation of a new domestic biobased industry”. I believe that the only way that we can replace the coal and oil as our main sources of energy is to try to develop new forms such a s the Biofuels. Even if the biofuels are not the final and only solution maybe the research that was done in their creation can be applied to creating a new fuel source never before though of. This current energy situation is not going to fix it self it is up to us to try all possible solutions until we find something that will sustain us in te same manner that coal and oil have in the last hundred years.