BIO POWER

Bio – mass like for example wood is the oldest fuel in the world. The fire was discovered many thousands years ago and since that moment humanity has started to combust solid fuel. In fact bio-mass energy is also energy of the Sun. The Sun radiation which gets to the Earth atmosphere are absorbs by plants which use that energy to grow up. For many centuries people used solid masses (wood, hay etc.) and from antiquity liquid fuels (e.g. oil) to heat their houses, to keep a light during the night etc. When the coal was founded it become major solid fuel thus only less wealthy part of society was using solid bio fuels. At present when a coal prices are growing up, current available sources are running out and the CO2 is approved as a greenhouse gas, the bio-mass again become potential energy source. To cover restrict commitment about reduction of carbon emission, power plants have started to combust mixture of fossil fuels (hard coal and lignite) and bio-mass. That process is called co-firing. Current bio-mass can be obtained from many sources e.g.: forests wood, corps, wastes etc. Total earth potential is not already known however countries which are interested in bio technologies estimate some values. In the USA two the largest potential biomass resources, forestland and agricultural lands offer over 1,3 billion dry tons per year. The first one – forestland – can produce 368 million dry tons of solid bio-fuel. That volume consists of fuelwood harvested from forests (52 million dry tons), residues from wood processing mills and pulp and paper mills (142 million dry tons), urban wood residues (47 million dry tons), residues from logging and site cleaning operations (64 million dry tons), biomass from fuel treatment operations to reduce fire risk (60 million tons). Agricultural lands can produce about 1 billion dry tons of biomass annual. That value includes annual crop residues (428 million dry tons), perennial crops (377 million dry tons), grains used for biofuels (87 million dry tons), animal manures, process residues and other miscellaneous feedstock (106 million dry tons). In the EU member countries can produce 187 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) without harming the environment. That value includes fuel-wood harvested from forests (43 Mtoe), wastes and residues (100 Mtoe) and energy crops from agriculture (44 Mtoe). That is value for 2010, however European Environmental Agency estimates predicts gain in production to 228 Mtoe in 2020 and 284 Mtoe in 2030. [46], [48], [49]

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