Biomass: An Energy Solution for Texas and Beyond
You use biofuels without even knowing it. Each time you crumple a newspaper to use for kindling or build a campfire with wood you've collected, you're making use of biomass fuels. One of the best things about biomass energy is that these materials are renewable sources of energy. After all, to get more firewood, all you have to do is plant some trees. Of course, in order to take advantage of biomass energy on a larger scale, different techniques are necessary. With a little ingenuity, however, Texans and Americans as a whole will be able to power their lifestyles in an environmentally and profitable manner.
In a report from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, biomass is defined as, "any plant or animal matter used to produce energy." Wood is the most common biofuel, but others include municipal waste (garbage), switchgrass, corn, discarded farm waste as well as many others. These materials can be used as fuel in a few ways. Most of us are already using some ethanol, and we don't even know it. Ethanol is a combustible liquid fuel made from corn or other material, and it is commonly added to supplies of gasoline. Not only does this reduce use of petroleum, a nonrenewable resource, but it also generates revenue for American farmers. Biomass can also be burned to power the electric generators currently fueled by coal or oil.
Texas, with its large land area and wide range of climate conditions, possesses a great deal of biomass potential. The Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) classifies biomass fuels into three categories: Agricultural (harvest residues and energy crops), Forests (logging residues, woody energy crops) and Urban (landfill gas and used cooking oils). Agricultural biomass is most commonly found in the northern half of the state, while forests are in the east on the Louisiana/Arkansas border. Urban biomass, of course, can be found in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth areas, among other cities. This breakdown points out one of the best reasons to use biomass: everyone can contribute in some way.
Production of fuel from biomass is an industrial chemical procedure that also creates a great number of jobs. According to Diane Greer at the Harvest Clean Energy site, corn can be converted into ethanol using either a dry or wet milling process. For dry milling, corn meal is heated and broken down with water and enzymes. The starches in the corn are then broken down with another enzyme until they become sugar. Just like grapes are turned to wine, that solution is fermented with yeast, resulting in ethanol. In a wet milling operation, the starch is removed from the fiber and other undesirable compounds in the corn before the mixture is fermented. The process is similar for other kinds of organic matter; there's plenty of starch locked up in those blades of switchgrass.
As it stands, most of the biomass energy used in Texas (seventy-two percent) is consumed by the industrial sector to power factories, among other applications. The US Energy Information Administration also notes that eighteen percent of Texas biomass energy is consumed by the residential sector: people in houses and apartments. Only four percent is currently dedicated to generating electricity, representing a tremendous opportunity for growth.
The Texas government has certainly noticed the possibilities presented by biomass-generated electricity. The Texas SECO credits Governor Rick Perry for his 2007 delineation of the Texas Bioenergy Strategy, starting out with a 5-million-dollar Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant that is helping Texas A&M University perform research that will increase the efficiency and expand opportunities for the use of biofuels in the Lone Star State. The college has also partnered with Chevron to "find ways to speed up harvesting of cellulose crops and turning them into biofuels." In the near future, you could use biofuels to fill your gas tank. Biomass fuel can also be used to fill the propane tanks you use during family cookouts, emergency generators and other portable appliances that aren't connected to the utility grid. Even better, the liquid fuel can be derived from switch grass, wood chips and corn stems. That would allow the corn kernels to be used for tastier purposes such as food. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 allows for federal grants to help subsidize the construction of refineries that produce some of the more experimental fuels, including those produced from farm leftovers and other non-corn kernel sources.
While these technologies may seem out of reach to some, it's really an acceleration of the process we use today. After all, the coal that helps generate our electricity is the result of the decomposition of prehistoric forests. Modern science is just speeding up the process a little, allowing us to power our lifestyles with plants grown on today's farms.