Sadly, the argument for sustainable fuel and energy sources is often good-natured but ill informed, pushing for technology that we already have to do what we already know we can.
The real constraint in mobilizing biomass fuel production on a large scale is not developing the technology, acquiring the means of production, or finding the raw materials. It is circumventing the political opposition; defeating the giants of the oil and auto industries. The following information is proof that biomass, a very promising source of sustainable fuel , can be produced and used right now to greatly decrease environmental impact.
Just as humans and all other animals acquire their energy through the caloric content of other living or recently deceased organisms, so can fuel and energy be derived for everything else that requires it. Biomass as a sustainable fuel source, then, is technically anything that possesses or once possessed life. Most commonly acquired and efficiently derived from timber, trash, plants, and gaseous by products, biomass offers an immaculately clean and environmentally conscious source of energy. The major operating premise behind these energy efficient fuel sources is carbon: plants absorb it through the air as part of photosynthesis, after which animals eat the plants and inherit the carbon.
Upon selection of a viable source of biomass, such as one of any of the natural ingredients listed above, three major types of chemical reactions are used to convert it: heat, chemical, and biochemical conversion reactions transform biomass into usable fuel, electricity, and other energy sources.
Heat conversion utilizes combustion reactions to harness the material into a usable product. The amount of heat and air involved in the reactions may vary depending on the nature and amount of reactants as well as the desired product.
Chemical conversion involves a myriad of additives applied to biomass material to manipulate and heighten its beneficial properties.
Biochemical conversion is possibly the most effortless conversion method of the three, as biochemical processes such as burning and microbial consumption already happen in nature, yielding the fuel source that biomass offers.
This method of obtaining fuel offers a number of stunning implications for the future: dramatically fewer gaseous and noxious emissions, preservation of the ozone layer, and overall quality of life improvements are among them. To reiterate, the technology is already there. Progressing to biomass fuel is a matter of societal shifting. People and businesses can and should catalyze the collective movement to break the dependency on oil through lobbying, support and compassion for a cleaner world.
