Harnessing Renewable Energy With Biomass: An Overview

Introduction

Many people and industries use biomass to produce renewable electricity, transportation fuels, and thermal energy. Biomass stores energy that can be released and utilized to produce heat or renewable energy. Fossil fuels and biomass are of low cost and reduces the emission of greenhouse gas; therefore, promoting environmental protection. The combination of heat and power normally represents an efficient way of utilizing biomass (Hogan, 2015). Biofuels are produced from biomass; therefore, helping in reducing the demand for petroleum products. Biodiesel from soy and oil palm and ethanol from sugarcane and corn are the main sources of biofuels utilized by various companies.

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Electricity markets are the potential users of energy produced by various companies. The electricity markets involve consideration of the relationship between economics and engineering concepts like loop flow, incentives, reliability requirements, and equilibrium (Hogan, 2015). The state and federal governments coordinate market competition and develop policies for the use of electrical energy. Regulations help in ensuring the appropriate use of energy and prevent environmental pollution. For example, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 incorporated market competition as national regulation in the United States of America (Hogan, 2015).

The use of biomass to produce biofuels is essential in ensuring energy efficacy in the United States and other parts of the world. To ensure continuous and sustainable energy supply to a growing population, many companies have utilized renewable sources. Also, energy efficiency involves consideration of its costs to potential consumers. Efficient energy sources reduce the emission of greenhouse gas; therefore, protecting the environment.

Natural gas contains various components that can be utilized as environmentally friendly sources of energy. Methane is the main component of natural gas that has been used in generating energy (Logan et al., 2012). Natural gas forms through the decomposition of plant and animal remain. In the United States of America, natural gas is produced from sedimentary rock structures like shale. The drilled natural gas is transported through gathering pipelines to processing plants. To prevent environmental pollution and risks of explosions, natural gas is mixed with mercaptan to provide a distinctly unpleasant smell for detecting leaks.

Offshore drilling is has been used in the extraction of crude petroleum oil. The crude resources are refined to obtain various petroleum oils and other products used in the production of energy (Logan et al., 2012). Renewable energy sources are significant in ensuring a stable and continuous supply of cost-efficient energy for the growing population.

References

Hogan, W. W. (2015). Electricity market design energy and capacity markets and resource adequacy. In Proceedings of EUCI conference on capacity markets: Gauging their real impact on resource development and reliability, Cambridge, USA (Vol. 1). Retrieved from: https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/fs/whogan/Hogan_EUCI_090115.pdf

Logan, J., Heath, G., Macknick, J., Paranhos, E., Boyd, W., & Carlson, K. (2012). Natural gas and the transformation of the US energy sector: electricity (No. NREL/TP-6A50-55538). National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). Retrieved from: https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1338439