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(2020 article) How to Make Biomass Energy Sustainable Again — Low Tech Magazine
(solar.lowtechmagazine.com)
this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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chapotraphouse
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What energy is wasted? The energy is still there, it's just a bit annoying to burn (lots of big waxy molecules) so this is a method that breaks it down chemically and makes it easier to burn.
Biomass as fuel is a solution looking for a problem, and trades soil health for nothing compared to electrification. Dumping biomass in deep anoxic lakes might at least reduce the quantity of GHG emitted as opposed to being 'neutral'. Get some solar panels and wind generators and get hydrogen with hydrolysis (and then turn that into whatever you want), or nuclear (Hello China).
Re: My comments on hydrogen gas specifically, I don't know how any of this shit works in terms of chemistry or equipment or anything. :3 I just think renewable production of fuels is very cool because it can just be stored in a big vessel (although hydrogen needs to be compressed or stored in some kind of solution like with some zinc batteries i posted about before)
when talking to people about the renewable energy transition, one of the points has been frequently raised as a negative is the overuse of lithium ion batteries (we're using gigantic lithium batteries for data centers & for power stations, which could be replaced by flow batteries and other stuff (actually may have still neglected to post about flow batteries) but renewable fuel production is one of those things that skirts around the issue (can cause pollution tho ofc), so I find it very interesting.
Hydrogen is so used for lots of industrial processes other than being a clean energy source, like fertilizer
You're right on the money as far as going out and harvesting biomass rather than waste disposal that doubles as energy production being dumb. This magazine's editors and writers have a completely different worldview than me. I wasn't sure if you were joking/I was misunderstanding you about there not being energy to burn in plastic and food waste.
I don't know what people's hang up about nuclear is.
And all the naysayers about renewables are getting swept by the Chinese yeah.
Biodiesel or ethanol is what you're looking for. With our current methods, we spend so much energy making ethanol for E85 gasoline that it's nearly a 1-for-1 trade, but it doesn't have to be that way. We don't need to use huge gas-powered farming equipment; we didn't always use it in the past yet we've been farming corn productively for 5000 years.
Don't worry I know we make a shit ton of corn ethanol
I just think it would be cool to be able to send off my apartment compost to a facility that creates futuristic and trendy
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