Fwd: Energy from biomass wastes

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Pannirselvam Pagandai v <panruti2002@grouply.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 6:32 AM
Subject: Energy from biomass wastes
To: <pannirbr@gmail.com>

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Energy from biomass wastes

An overview report it identifies a number of problems (toxic gases, tars,
pollutants) without clearly understanding or describing how these are

solved. It would be far more useful if it were written from an engineering
perspective that highlighted lessons learned, paths forward and

circumstances where gasification can work rather than concluding,
essentially, that small scale gasification has failed because it does not
meet
the criteria of the European automobile industry. Even highly
productive systems were discounted because they didn't meet European
environmental
health and safety standards. Reading the report one would not
know that there are affordable small scale systems that you can very safely
run in
your backyard in Germany.

The report ignores developments in the last five years that are yielding
systems that solve many of the problems that
are highlighted. It has ignored
some very important sources. It quotes unidentified sources ("independent
experts") and old data (Stassen's World
Bank study). Literature is cited but
it does not look like very many of us who are involved in gasifier
development were contacted for this study.
It assumes that students who
write theses correctly interpret what they observe. It incorrectly applies
problems associated with some gasifier
designs to all gasifiers.

To be of any use to industry or policy makers this introductory, or overview
level, study should be followed up with a
deeper study of how gasification
can be used successfully. (A follow up could be done in collaboration with
the IEA Task 33 on biomass
gasification.) At best it will stimulate
interest in making better gasification systems. At worst it will erode
confidence (i.e. funding) at the
policy level in the potential of small
scale gasification.

Kind regards,

Tom Miles
www.gasifiers.bioenergylists.org

Ref.
Small-scale
Electricity Generation from Biomass

Part 1 - Biomass Gasification
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/gtz2010-en-small-scale-electricity-generation

-from-biomass-part-I.pdf

Part 2 - Biogas
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/gtz2010-en-small-scale-electricity-generation
-from-biomass-part-2.pdf


Part 3 of the paper series which will cover plant oil for power generation
will be available by the end of this year.

Dear Stovers, Michael
Blunck from GTZ asked me to share the following
with you, which might be of interest also for the stove list. For
inquiries please contact him
directly (see CC). Regards Christa
Paper series: Small-scale Electricity Generation from Biomass
GTZ-HERA has looked more closely into the
small-scale use of biomass
for rural off-grid electrification. Results are disillusioning.

Following the hype and frustrations over a global
bio-fuel market,
expectations regarding biomass now focus on local power generation in
rural areas of developing countries. International
organisations and
donors advocate wood gasification, biogas, and vegetable oil as
sustainable sources for decentralized power supply. Countless
success
stories on biomass use for small-scale electricity generation have
been published.

However, in practice the picture seems to be a
different one: many
rumours indicate that the actual successes are not as numerous as the
stories surrounding them. As a governmental development
agency, GTZ is
obliged to advocate only promising and sustainable approaches. Hence
the GTZ Programme on Poverty-oriented Basic Energy Services
(HERA) has
conducted several inquiries with experts in Africa, Latin America and
Asia focussing on practical operation experience with small-scale

gasification, as well as the use of biogas and vegetable oil for power
generation. Following the analysis of literature and in particular
many
direct inquiries with local experts , the survey not only
revealed an abundant number of projects but an equally multitude of
problems and
obstacles.

The assessment resulted in a three-part series of papers on "Small-
scale Electricity Generation from Biomass" covering biomass

gasification (part I), biogas (part II), and plant oil (part III) for
electric power generation. The documents are now available for download:


Small-scale Electricity Generation from Biomass

************************************************
P.V.PANNIRSELVAM
ASSOCIATE . PROF.
Research
Group ,GPEC, Coordinator
Computer aided Cost engineering