Bioenergy is the Future! Yes or No?

Bioenergy is the renewable energy produced by living organisms (Dictionary). This type of energy is becoming a growing popularity throughout the world in an effort to reduce environmental impacts and save our world.  However, there is a continual controversy whether bioenergy is the answer to our environmental problems or if it only makes the problems worse. In this blog we will be discussing positive and negative impacts of using wood as a source of electricity.

Yes, Bioenergy is the Answer!

Wood can be used as an excellent source of biopower. Many wood scraps from lumber yards and processing plants can be burned to heat water with generates steam which in turn generates electricity. About 58% of the wood used for bioenergy is from byproducts and forest thinning (Bioenergy).  There is just a small portion of wood used for bioenergy that is actually grown specifically for this reason. When the steam is cooled, it can be recycled and reheated to continue the process. After the heating process, there will always be waste heat created, but to be more efficient, waste heat can be captured and used for other processes (Why Use Wood Energy?).

               Furthermore, wood is carbon neutral which means that it stores carbon and sequesters it while the tree is growing.  This means that it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming except for the emissions during transportation and harvesting.  Also, the use of wood as energy greatly reduced waste pollution since the ashes can be used as fertilizer or composed back into the soil with not harm due to the natural material (Why Use Wood Energy?). 

               Supplementing wood as an energy source also provides economic benefits.  Wood is much cheaper product to use compared to many fossil fuels to provide energy.  It also provides many economic benefits when discussing waste management.  Since the waste can be used easily and safely composed, the waste is much less expensive to dispose of (Why Use Wood Energy?)

No, Bioenergy Does Not Make a Difference!

               As there are many benefits to exchanging wood as an energy source, we must also consider the negative effects. Pollution is not eliminated when considering wood. Pollution can still occur when the wood is burned to create the energy. As trees are considered carbon neutral, that carbon sequestered in the trees is released when the wood is burned. The trees are not producing more carbon, but they are not eliminating it either (Majaya).

               Another drawback of using wood as an energy source is the particle emission.  If not completely combusted, it can cause major environmental issues and emit particles into the air.  Smog is a result of these particles being released from wood and other fossil fuels as well (Wood Energy).

               Lastly, a major concern this that bioenergy from wood will continue to grow, which will cause destructions of major forests. Wood energy has already made many debuts in cities, homes, and around the world which is projected to increase in efforts to reduce environmental problems. As of now many wood products used for energy are from lumber scraps and forest thinning, but the number of forests grown for energy purposes are continuing to increase (Yale).

              

In conclusion, there are both benefits and disadvantages of using wood as an energy source.  It is as controversial topic as to if this bioenergy is beneficial or not, but it is important to look at both sides of the issue. With environmental issues greatly affecting our world, we must look for a change, but is bioenergy the answer?

“Dictionary.com.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/.

Bioenergy KDF, https://bioenergykdf.net/billionton2016/overview.

Majaya, Rachel, et al. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Wood as a Source of Energy.” Free ZIMSEC & Cambridge Revision Notes & Past Exam Papers, 29 Mar. 2017, https://revision.co.zw/advantages-disadvantages-wood-source-energy/.

“Why Use Wood Energy?” EECA Business, https://www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/technologies/renewable-energy/wood-energy/why-use-wood-energy/.

 “Wood Energy Issues.” EECA Business, https://www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/technologies/renewable-energy/wood-energy/how-to-use-wood-as-energy/wood-energy-issues/.

 “Yale University.” Forests & Bioenergy | Global Forest Atlas, https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/forest-use-logging/forests-bioenergy.

3 Things you Need to Know about Bioproducts

3 Things you Need to Know about Bioproducts

Bioproducts are becoming a great source of raw material for things we use every day. Using bioproducts has the potential to be more economically friendly than using fossil fuels. It is important to know what kinds of materials can be made from bioproducts and how these processes occur.  Three important products that you have probably used many times include sugar, plastics, and fuel, but what materials are used to make these products and how are they made?

1. How do we get Sugar from Bioproducts?

Sugar can be obtained from a variety of bioproducts.  Some of these bioproducts include sugar cane, corn kernels, and corn stover.  The bioproduct we use for sugar depends on the where we are in the world.  For us in the U.S., the sugar making process relies on corn as the main bioproduct source. The process for retrieving sugar as a product is different for each source you use, but we will be looking specifically on the process from corn to sugar.

               Corn begins its process to sugar in the milling stage.  In the dry milling stage, the corn is grinded down in order to expose the starch. A corn slurry is made from a mixture of the exposed starch and water and it is heated.  Next, amylase is used as an enzyme to break down the starch molecules into maltose and then another enzyme is used to break maltose into the simple sugar glucose monomers (Corn Syrup).

2. How do we get Plastics from Bioproducts?

               Generally, the hydrocarbons used to create plastic come from nonrenewable fossil fuels, but plastic can also be produced from bio renewable materials such as wood material, oils, starch, and food waste.  There are a variety of bioplastics that can be made such as non-biodegradable, biodegradable, and compostable. The non-biodegradable bioplastics are made primarily from sugar.  The process to make these bioplastics from sugar can involve different processes with many similarities.  This includes fermenting and distilling sugar to ethanol.  Ethanol is then chemically reacted to form a version of ethylene.  Then a polymerization occurs.  For biodegradable bioplastics, the process is much different.  The raw materials used to make these plastics include starch, cellulose, and sugar. Many of these processed involve fermentation and heat applications (Gibbens).   

3. How do we get Fuels from Bioproducts?

               Plant oils can be converted into fuels.  This process includes extracting the oil from the seed and then converting the oil to fuels through transesterification. Transesterification modifies triglycerides produce improved fuel. The triglycerides react with methanol and a catalyst to produce biodiesel and glycerol.  The glycerol is removed from the mixture and biodiesel is kept for fuel usage. Another process of converting triglycerides to fuel is by hydrotreating the mixture (Ogden).  This produces synthetic diesel by producing molecules of only hydrogen and carbon. The problem with producing renewable fuels from feedstock is the high cost (McFadden).

In conclusion, bioproducts make up a huge portion of materials we use in our lives including sugars, plastics, and fuels. It is vital to know where these products come from and how we can utilize these products compared to nonrenewable resources. Many people do not realize the extent of products that can be made from bio renewable resources.

Resources

“Corn Syrup.” How Products Are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Corn-Syrup.html.

Gibbens, Sarah. “What You Need to Know about Plant-Based Plastics.” Bioplastics-Are They Truly Better for the Environment?, 21 Nov. 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/are-bioplastics-made-from-plants-better-for-environment-ocean-plastic/.

McFadden, Christopher. “Seven Cool Biofuel Crops That We Use for Fuel Production.” Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 12 Mar. 2018, https://interestingengineering.com/seven-biofuel-crops-use-fuel-production.

Ogden Publications, Inc. “Fuel From Plants! The Basics of Biofuels.” Mother Earth News, https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/fuel-efficiency/biofuels-zkcz12zsch.

Wood: the Good, the Bad, and the “Neutral”

When people think of wood, there is generally a controversy on whether harvesting trees is worth it.  Wood use is very prominent in many phases of construction from building large buildings to small toys for kids.  Wood is an important product in our everyday lives, but what are the positive and negative effects of using wood in construction?

The Good

Wood has been engineered over time to become a suitable building product for the construction of office buildings, homes, and schools. Engineered wood refers to products that change slightly from natural wood so that the limitations it possesses are lowered and desired characteristics are enhanced (Zastrow). Some common engineered wood products include plywood, face veneer, particle board, fiberboard, wood flooring, and glulam. These products have made it possible to begin building larger skyscrapers out of wood to decrease the carbon emission from using construction products such as cement and metal. Using engineering technology, densified wood has been made which is considered “as strong as steel” (Zastrow).

The Bad

As there are many good qualities of using wood for construction, wood does have some major limitations. Some of these limitations include warping, swelling/ shrinking, rotting, and knots that effect the strength. As longitudinal shrinkage is negligible, the loss or addition of moisture causes a wood to shrink or expand in the tangential and radial directions. The tangential direction of wood has the most shrinkage being 4-12% (Dimensional Shrinkage).  To help prevent shrinkage, wood can be dried, but this is an expensive process. Normally, wood used for homes is dried to about 7% to help prevent the doors, drawers, cabinets, floorboards, and other wooden material in the house from warping or sticking when opening (Dimensional Shrinkage).  Another major issue when using wood for construction is its ability to grow fungi and begin to decay. When fungi begin to grow on the wood, the plant cells degrade and the carbon in the plant material is converted to carbon dioxide gas and the wood begins to lose strength and weight (Pasanen). Wood is usually treated with preservatives, but over time the wood is still subject to decay, especially when used outdoors. Knots of trees form when a branch dies or is removed from the trunk of the tree. In knots, the direction of the grain of the wood is changed which causes a decrease in strength almost as if there was just a hole in that area.

The “Neutral”

Trees are considered carbon neutral. This means that that carbon they can sequester carbon for a large time period, but then emit the carbon back into the atmosphere at the end of their life. While growing, trees can sequester as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and about 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time the tree is 40 years old (Evans). This sequestered carbon dioxide stays trapped in the tree though its construction of buildings, paper making, wooden toys, and many other objects made of from trees.  Trees are considered major carbon reservoirs. Many people believe that the carbon stored in trees is completely limited from the atmosphere. However, this is not the case because carbon is released back into the atmosphere when the tree begins to decay.  Many building materials emit carbon dioxide immediately during construction, but trees are different.  This allows trees to be neutral since the amount of carbon dioxide they emit is generally similar to the amount of carbon dioxide they store.

Resources

 “Dimensional Shrinkage.” The Wood Database, https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/dimensional-shrinkage/.

Evans, Evr. Tree Facts. https://projects.ncsu.edu/project/treesofstrength/treefact.htm.

Pasanen, Anna-Liisa, et al. “Fungal Growth and Survival in Building Materials under Fluctuating Moisture and Temperature Conditions.” International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, Elsevier, 4 Dec. 2000, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964830500000937.

Zastrow, Mark. “Crushed Wood Is Stronger than Steel.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 7 Feb. 2018, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01600-6.

Where do your bio-renewable resources come from?

Have you ever wondered where the wood used to build your house came from? Maybe you wondered how it was grown? What about other plants? Tree and plant growth play a huge part in our lives since they can be made into so many useful products for us, but we also must think about how we should manage plant growth. Trees are grown naturally, but also plantation forest are also put into place to growth trees for lumber.  Plant such as crops, also have different management options such as organic and conventional methods.

In order to be able to manage plant growth, we must first look at how the tree uses water and sunlight to grow.  Water is vital in the growth of plants. The water travels up the tree from the roots to the leaves in cells called the xylem.  Trees use this water for photosynthesis to turn carbon dioxide into sugar that is food for the plant. The newly made sugar is then transported from the leaves to various parts of the plant for energy through phloem cells (Studios).  This distribution of nutrients allows the tree to grow through the vascular cambia which separates the phloem cells and xylem cells.  Every year, the vascular cambia adds a layer of xylem and phloem cells resulting in the rings we see in logs.  This makes the outer part of the tree the youngest while the inside rings are the oldest (Annual).

On the other hand, corn is an annual plant.  From the seed, corn goes through germination, vegetative growth, and reproductive development. Corn only has a single growing point where all the leaves originate from a single point unlike trees. Corn has primary growth meaning it grows from the roots and leaves whereas trees are secondary and grow outwards. Like trees, corn has xylem and phloem cells that transport water and nutrients (Corn).  

Now that we know how corn and trees are grow, we can investigate different management options. Trees are grown in natural forests and plantation forest. Natural forest relies on natural regeneration with no fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation and overall has a lower yield of wood per hectare.  Planation forest more intensely managed to maximized wood production. Fertilization, irrigation, and pesticides are used, and the average yield is up to ten times greater than natural forest (Cornin). Both of these forests play a role in the wood we used for houses, paper, furniture, and many other things.

Similar to trees, there are a variety of management practices put in place for crops as well. Crops can be managed either conventionally or organically. Conventional practices are similar to that of forest plantations where the crop is strategically planted, fertilized, and harvested to produce maximum yield. Furthermore, organic management is similar to natural forests where fertilizers and pesticides are regulated and prohibited (Organic).  Organic crops are regulated more closely due to the regulation using only natural management plans. As with trees, organic and conventional crops all help supply food to the world.

In conclusion, knowing how plants grow and how using particular management practices help us to understand how these products supply and feed the world.  It is important to know where these products come from and how they are managed since they are such as huge part of how we function in our world.

 “Annual Growth Rings: Tree Knowledge: Booklet: Forest Academy - Domtar.” Annual Growth Rings | Tree Knowledge | Booklet | Forest Academy - Domtar, https://www.theforestacademy.com/tree-knowledge/annual-growth-rings/#.XanMf0ZKhPY.

“Corn History and How It Grows.” Corn History and How It Grows - Garden.org, https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/397/.

Cronin, Aisling Maria. “The Difference Between a Man-Made and Natural Forest. Why One Threatens the Future of the Other.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 21 Apr. 2016, https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/difference-between-man-made-forest-and-natural-one/.

“Organic vs Conventional.” Rodale Institute, https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-basics/organic-vs-conventional/.

Studios, Rader. “Vascular Systems of Plants.” Biology Basics, http://www.biology4kids.com/files/plants_xylemphloem.html.

Are you Aware of your Envronmental Impacts?

Did you know that the Earth’s average temperature is rising about 0.2℃ per decade (World of Change)? This may not seem like a very dramatic change, but to those concerned about global warm, it is, and you should be too. There are numerous environmental problems that have been affecting the quality of our environment. Some the problems include pollutants from mining, loss of natural resources, and our own carbon footprints.  All these problems cause an increase in CO2 emissions, greenhouse gases, and an overall climate change.

               Carbon dioxide emissions are a huge aspect that results in global warming. There are two types of carbon cycles, the fast carbon cycle and the slow. The slow carbon cycle consists of carbon dioxide cycling between rocks, oceans, and soil over millions of years.  The fast carbon cycle refers the cycling of carbon dioxide between plants and respiration. Much of the carbon dioxide we produce comes from the burning fossil fuels or plant material.  When we burn fossil fuels such as driving a vehicle, mining coal, or heating a house, carbon dioxide gases are moved from the slow carbon cycle to the fast carbon cycle and the carbon gets released into the atmosphere (“The Carbon Cycle”). 

This increase in carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases trap heat for the Earth to absorb. The energy from the sun radiates heat on the Earth and some of the rays are reflected into space, but with the increase of gases, the amount of energy absorbed by the Earth increases and the amount reflected into space decreases. The energy the Earth receive must be equal to the energy the Earth is reflecting into space or the Earth will become warmer or colder (“The Carbon Cycle”).    

One way to can see how much each product we use effects the environment is by doing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of each product we use. An LCA allows for consumers to make an eco-friendly decision by comparing the environmental impact of different products. An LCA quantifies the impact of a products life from “Cradle to Grave” (“Cradle-to-Grave Assessment”).  This expression refers to everything used to make and transport the product including the extraction of the raw materials through the way it was recycled or disposed at the end of its life.  Many companies use LCA to help with marketing, reduce environmental impacts, and evaluating policy regulations.

Furthermore, we can assess each of our environmental impacts by evaluating our own carbon footprints. Your carbon footprint is a measurement your direct and indirect total greenhouse gas emission produced (Carbon Footprinting).  Understanding your carbon footprint can help your figure out what areas your can change to help environmental problems.  Maybe a change you could make would be riding a bike rather than driving your vehicle to work. Maybe you could hang dry clothes rather than using a dryer to save electricity.  These are all things that impact your carbon footprint.

Overall, global warming is a real issue.  It may not seem like a significant number, but over the years, this small number adds up. This small change affects the growth of plants, animals, and ecosystem that humans are not aware of.  We need to be more aware of our effects on the environment.  A good way to start being aware of our environmental impact is to understand our carbon footprint and compare the LCA of products we buy to find the best eco-friendly option.

“The Carbon Cycle.” NASA, NASA, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/CarbonCycle/page5.php.

“Carbon Footprinting Guide: Resources & Guides: Carbon Trust.” Carbon Footprinting Guide | Resources & Guides | Carbon Trust, https://www.carbontrust.com/resources/guides/carbon-footprinting-and-reporting/carbon-footprinting/.

“Cradle-to-Grave Assessment.” Cradle-to-Grave Assessment - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/cradle-to-grave-assessment.

“World of Change: Global Temperatures.” NASA, NASA, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/DecadalTemp.