The Energy Matrix

The world is heading into an energy crisis. Our oil dependency is ever increasing while the Earth’s oil reserves are steadily decreasing. Gasoline already costs 4.00 per gallon in the United States. Our fossil fuel derived energy sources have already reached their peak production and are now starting to decline. What will energy costs look like 10 years from now?

Biomass is a realistic energy alternative. Most power plants operate by the exact same methods. The energy in fuel is converted into heat which is used to create steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine, which generates electricity. The type of fuel burned to create the heat does not matter. All fuels can be used to generate electricity. Whether it’s an oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, or biomass power plant, the only difference between them is the mechanics by which they burn the fuel. This means that the power plants which burn conventional fossil fuels can be converted to burn biomass fuels with relatively little work.

Using the energy stored in biomass is a smarter way to create electricity. Fossil fuels are not sustainable. Our world will be depleted of them someday, and we’re only painfully starting to realize it now. Biomass energy can be harvested from trees, paper products, compost, and even cow manure. Many argue that cutting down our world’s forests is not a sustainable practice. And they would be right. If we harvest our forests without replacing them, we would run into the same problem we are now facing with fossil fuels. However, our forests can be replaced. Lumberers often have 10, 20, 50, and even 100 year plans for forest harvesting and regrowth. With the right planning, biomass can effectively be used to supplement and eventually replace fossil fuels as the world’s energy source.