Alternative Fuel Sources - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 80

ar cane is widely grown and bagasse is available as an energy feedstock.
Rice growing areas have rice husks available. The Midwestern area of the
U.S. can use corn husks and forested areas have timber residues.
Biomass is not a renewable resource unless creation of the source
equals or exceeds its use. This is true in energy farms and standard crops,
particularly forests.
BIOMASS USE
Prior to the widespread use of coal and oil, biomass in the form of
firewood was the principal energy source in the U.S. This was also true in
most other countries. In the Canada of 1867, biomass was used for 90%
of its energy. Only 10% of this nation's energy supply came from other
sources such as coal and hydropower. As coal and then oil became more
widespread, the use of biomass dropped, reaching a low point by 1960.
But since then, the trend is upward with biomass gaining popularity as
an energy source. In the forest products industry, wood waste supplies a
large percentage of the energy needed. This ranges between 65 and 100%,
depending on the country.
Biomass supplies almost 15% of the world's energy. In develop-
ing countries this amount can be as high as 50%. Nepal, Ethiopia, and
Haiti derive most of their energy from biomass. Kenya, Maldives, India,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius derive over half.
In the U.S. about 8% of the energy is provided by biomass and al-
most 90% of this comes from the combustion of wood and wood residues.
The use of biomass increased from an installed capacity of 200 megawatts
in 1980 to over 7,700 megawatts in 1990. The search for cleaner fuels and
landfill restraints are the main reasons for increased biomass utilization.
The cost of waste disposal has soared and landfill sites are closing fast-
er than new ones are opening up. The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) estimated that between 1978 and 1988, 70% of the nation's landfills,
about 14,000 sites closed.
By the 1990s several states had developed notable biomass energy.
Florida's power plants generated more than 700 megawatts of energy
from biomass and almost one fourth of Maine's baseload requirements
were met with biomass generation. Hawaii generated about one half of its
energy from renewable sources and one half of this came from biomass.
States with large populations used biomass to help dispose of their waste.