| Ever since humans first huddled around a fire for | | | | electricity. "Electricity generation is the single largest |
| warmth, people have burned logs, straw, wood and | | | | industrial polluter in the United States," says Alan |
| animal waste--otherwise known as biomass--to create | | | | Nogee, energy program director at the Union of |
| energy. Indeed, throughout most of history, these crude | | | | Concerned Scientists. "One-fourth of the primary |
| forms of fuel answered the world's energy needs. | | | | emissions that lead to smog, one-third of the emissions |
| Only after the industrial age matured did people | | | | that cause global warming and two-thirds of the |
| abandon biomass for the modern conveniences and | | | | emissions that contribute to acid rain can be attributed |
| the relatively low costs of power provided by fossil | | | | directly to electric power plants." |
| fuels and electricity. Today, with 82 percent of U. S. | | | | By 2020, the Union of Concerned Scientists would like |
| energy supplied by fossil fuels, biomass appears to be | | | | to see 13 to 20 percent of this country's electricity |
| coming back into vogue as one of the top contenders | | | | produced from biomass power plants, says Nogee. |
| for replacing these finite and polluting resources. | | | | Currently, bioenergy resources supply only three |
| "Global warming issues have forced exploration of | | | | percent of U.S. heating and electric power needs. |
| bioenergy as an alternative to oil and coal," says | | | | Transportation fuels offer another application for |
| Anders Evald, a research technologist at the Centre | | | | biomass technology. "Consumers used 100 billion |
| for Biomass Technology in Denmark. The center is a | | | | gallons of gas in their vehicles last year" says Gerson |
| national organization that works with other European | | | | Santos-Lyon, program manager of the BioEthanol |
| institutions and companies to research and develop | | | | Program at the Department of Energy. Vehicle |
| bioenergy products. "Biomass can also include biofuels, | | | | emissions cause 60 percent of the urban air pollution. |
| gaseous fuels for engines and turbine applications," | | | | Biofuels, such as ethanol, can reduce carbon dioxide, |
| says Evald. "The framework under which all this takes | | | | ozone formation and carbon monoxide by as much as |
| place is very, very different from one region of the | | | | 90 percent. |
| world to another. Biomass is used in everything from | | | | "The use of ethanol is both a cost and a supply issue," |
| the fireplaces of third world nations to modern steam | | | | says Santos-Lyon. Most ethanol is made from corn, an |
| cycle systems that create both heat and power in | | | | energy- and labor-intensive row crop. With only 1.6 |
| industrial countries," he adds. | | | | billion gallons of ethanol manufactured last year, this |
| Biomass energy is considered a renewable or | | | | fuel accounted for just over one percent of total U.S. |
| sustainable energy because of its dosed carbon cycle. | | | | fuel consumption. Researchers at the National |
| Since trees use as much carbon dioxide during their | | | | Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, |
| growth as they add to the atmosphere when burned, | | | | are investigating ways to use more of the corn plant in |
| there is no net gain in carbon dioxide--the leading | | | | the manufacture of ethanol, as well as experimenting |
| offender of the greenhouse gases. | | | | with genetically engineered microorganisms to create a |
| President Clinton's 2001 budget includes a new initiative | | | | pollution-saving fuel from agricultural wastes. The goal |
| aimed at tripling the use of bio-based products and | | | | of National Renewable Energy Laboratory is to reduce |
| bioenergy by 2010. For these purposes, the | | | | the cost of ethanol from $1.22 per gallon to 60 or 70 |
| Department of Energy would receive $49 million, and | | | | cents within a decade, while increasing the fuel's |
| $194 million is slated for the U.S. Department of | | | | availability. |
| Agriculture in the President's proposed legislation. | | | | Every biomass source has critics and supporters. |
| The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already begun | | | | Even within the scientific community, experts debate |
| investigating energy crops--such as alfalfa--as a way | | | | the qualities of various biofuels, the consequences and |
| to increase the nation's biomass inventory. "Energy | | | | benefits of a managed forest, and the ethics of |
| crops require less fertilizer and prevent erosion," says | | | | genetically modified crops. Ethanol has become a |
| Roger Conway, director of the Office of Energy | | | | political football, the subsidies for which are fiercely |
| Policy and New Uses at the U.S. Department of | | | | defended by Midwestern farmers and farm-state |
| Agriculture. "As a possible income source, these crops | | | | politicians. |
| can buttress the farm economy, promote rural | | | | "There is a potential for abuse in creating energy from |
| development and add employment opportunities. And, | | | | biomass," says Wenonah Hauter, president of Public |
| by using subsidized land for these plants, the resulting | | | | Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project. The project, |
| crops will reduce the $22 billion the government pays | | | | founded by Ralph Nader, works to protect America's |
| to property owners." | | | | natural resources by promoting renewable and |
| Farmers in Chariton Valley, Iowa, are growing and | | | | energy-efficient technologies. "Logging old-growth |
| harvesting switchgrass on marginal land. The | | | | forests would be unacceptable, as is burning municipal |
| switchgrass will be burned with coal to produce | | | | solid waste," says Hauter. |