another way to use biomass

Just to prove that biomass as a fuel isn't just about gathering sticks to cook supper on, Britain's largest power station has launched a project to replace 10% of the coal it uses with materials such as wood chips, sunflower husks or grasses. That's equivalent to 400 MW of power generation, or the output of 500 wind turbines. The station, Drax, produces 7% of Britain's electricity, and has tested injecting powdered biomass into coal-fired boilers.

Neil Crumpton, of Friends of the Earth, said using biomass in power stations or combined heat and power schemes was a better use of the resource than turning it into biofuels. "Co-firing with biomass is a reasonable way forward; it's a logical extension of what they're [Drax] already doing and I've got no qualms about it. If it helps build the sustainable biomass market in the UK, then all well and good."

Comments

[Emil]

Is this something that could be optimally produced in South Africa? Just recently - I think yesterday - it was announced that a new coal mine delivered extra coal to Eskom, and could produce from the new mine coal over the next 6 years.

[Rory]

I am sure any country could do this. The beauty of it is that there can't be any harm in using biomass that would otherwise be "waste". The biomass doesn't produce less emissions, it just recycles carbon that the plants have taken from the air. But it does save indirectly by reducing the amount of new carbon added to the ecosystem from coal.

And there are other ways of mitigating the impacts of coal, for example by insisting that flyash - a byproduct of coal-driven power generation - be used in cement, and in that way reducing the energy consumed in the production of concrete. Greener buildings!