Biomass Energy
First, understand what is Biomass. The waste and the dead remains of living animals, and plants are called biomass. They contain carbon compounds. The chemical energy stored in them is called bio-mass energy. This form of energy being used by humans from a very early age. Humans burn wood and cattle dung for cooking for a very long time and are continuing to this date. But this method is not very beneficial as it releases harmful gases into the atmosphere.
A much more advanced and efficient use of biomass is the production of biogas from biomass. The biogas is produced by the decomposition of biomass in the absence of oxygen. Biogas contains nearly 60% methane and the rest is carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide.
Biogas is produced in a large dome-shaped plant also called a biogas plant. In India, however, these plants are called the Gobar Gas plant because the main item from which the biogas is produced here is cow dung( also called gobar in the native language).
Advantages
- It is an efficient technology that produces fuels from our waste.
- It reduces our dependencies on fossil fuels as bio-gas produced from biomass plants can be directly used as fuel
- It is very cost-effective and cheap.
- It is carbon neutral. Carbon dioxide is released on burning bio-waste but no carbon is released into the atmosphere on burning bio-fuels like bio-gas etc.
Disadvantages
- It releases methane in the environment which causes the greenhouse effect and global warming.
- It is not as effective as fossil fuels.
- Building bio-gas plants requires a lot of space.
Non-Conventional Sources of Energy
Can you picture driving a car that is powered by water? Or one that is powered by the Sun? The fact is that you may have to become used to such outlandish thoughts. Conventional fuels are increasingly running out, while non-conventional energy sources are becoming our future. And, in order to run them, let us study more about non-conventional energy sources.
Energy is a critical component of the economic infrastructure, as it is the primary input required to support economic growth. Economic development and energy usage have a close relationship. The greater a country’s per capita energy usage, the more developed it is, and vice versa. Human civilization is reliant on a variety of energy sources. In this article, we will discuss the non-conventional sources of energy and their usage, advantages, and disadvantages. Before, that let’s first understand what is energy.