Research Project

I have decided to do my research on using biomass as a form of alternative energy. I have already found a significant amount of information regarding biomass and biofuels as energy sources. There are many different types of biomass energy resources such as trees, grass, crops, industrial and agricultural waste. The most common way to harness the energy from biomass is to burn it to make heat , steam and electricity. This process has been done for thousands of years and is still a viable source of energy.
In my research paper I would like to explore the different methods of creating and obtaining the material that are used as biomass fuel. I will discuss the way in which the different biomass are converted to obtain energy from them. I have also had some first hand experience seeing at least one aspect of this biomass fuel here in Athens. There is a company on Mill Street called Sunflower that develops Free-piston sterling engines. I was lucky enough to get a tour of this company and got to see a demonstration of a free-piston sterling engine that was fueled by wood pellets. This pump was designed to be able to be fueled by any type of combustible material such as corn husk. Seeing this engine run was what sparked my interest into the use of biomass .
I believe that we will be able to use biomass to slowly replace or cut down on the use of coal for electricity production. One approach that was discussed in one of the articles that I read, was the to burn the biomass along with the coal in a process referred to as “co-firing”. This process would mean that we could replace a portion of the coal with the biomass and still produce the same amount of energy as the coal only process.
I am still not sure what my main focus will be in this paper since there are a few different different routes that I can go. I am leaning toward doing a summary of the how biomass energy works from production to energy conversion. I will also be able to tie this theme of the need for alternative energy sources as talked about in Lost Mountain.