Energy from Biomass

1. Definitions of biomass and biogas:

Biomass is a name given to the plant matter which is produced by
photosynthesis.
Ex: All trees, leaves, plants, grass etc
Biogas is a gas mixture which is generated by anaerobic fermentation of organic
waste materials. This gas mixture has a following composition:
(a) Methane-CH4 50-60% by volume
(b) Carbon di oxide(C02) 30-45% by volume
(c) Hydrogen(H2) 2-5% by volume
(d) Nitrogen(N2) 0.5-0.7% by volume
(e) Other gases traces

2. Photosynthesis:
It is the most important chemical reaction which is sustaining life on this
planet- Earth.
During this reaction, the green plants (which contain chlorophyll) prepares food
(sugar, starches, celluloses and hemi-celluloses) using CO2 from atmosphere, water
and sunlight.
Photosynthesis is a complex process reaction which continues in several
successive stages. The overall reaction may be represented as
XCO2+YH2O+sunlight+ chlorophyll ------> XO2+ CX (H2O) Y+ chlorophyll
The generalized symbol CX (H2O) Y represents carbohydrates/ hydro carbons like
sucrose, glucose, starch, celluloses etc. This is the primary source of mans basic
needs like food (rice, wheat etc), fiber (cotton, cloths etc) and shelter (wood,
bamboo etc)
There is a net gain of energy (energy available in solar radiation) in this
process along with release of oxygen and fixation of carbon from the atmosphere in
the form of biomass. The net energy absorbed from the solar radiation is released
during the combustion of biomass (chemically bound form of energy).

3. Photosynthetic oxygen production:

The process of photosynthesis is extremely complex and not fully
understood by scientist. In this reaction, water and CO2 molecules are broken to
form carbohydrates with the release of pure oxygen. The overall reaction may be
represented as
6CO2+12H2O C6H12O6+ 6H2O+6CO2
The observed light is in the ultra violet and infrared range. Visible light having
a wavelength below 700 deg A is absorbed by the green chlorophyll which becomes
activated and passes its energy onto the water molecules. A hydrogen atom is then
released and reacts with the carbon-dioxide molecule to produce carbohydrate and
oxygen. The oxygen is liberated from H2O molecule and not from CO2 molecule. This
process is called Carbon fixation.

The process of photosynthesis proceeds in two major steps as follows:

Step 1. Splitting of H2O molecule into H2 and O2 under the influence of
chlorophyll and sunlight. This reaction is known as Photosynthetic light reaction.
Due to proteolysis of H2O, the O2 escapes to atmosphere and H2 is transmitted into
intermediate compound later to form carbohydrates.
Step 2. The hydrogen from step1 (in the form of unknown intermediate compound)
reacts with CO2 to form starch and sugar. This reaction is described as “DARK
REACTION”. Thus during photosynthetic light reaction nascent oxygen is produced.
4. Energy plantation:
It is the method of storing and typing of solar energy by growing plants,
trees in the form of artificial forests, on waste and available land.
Different fast growing plant species have been identified and used for this
purposes examples are- acacia, tortilla, lebbak, Juliflora, erythrina, leocaena
etc.
 Under the biomass energy program of ministry of non-conventional energy sources
many energy plantations projects have been taken up with a view to fulfill the
needs of fuel, fodder and power generation together with good potential for rural
employment.