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Climate change: the role of biomass in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

COP26 calls for fast action

COP26 calls for fast action

Although it is clear to all that at COP26, the UN climate change conference underway in Glasgow, there will be no overall agreement among the world's superpowers on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the role of biomass in the successful fight against climate change is becoming increasingly apparent.

This is because biomass, thanks to sustainable forest management, has the peculiarity of being able to guarantee the reabsorption of carbon emissions produced during energy use. In essence, as much CO2 is emitted in the combustion phase as was absorbed by the plants in the growth phase, and the net emission balance is potentially zero.

Fossil fuels, on the other hand, release massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over geological eras without the system being able to reabsorb it.

This is why this type of fuel is one of the main causes of global warming and has been the focus of discussions among world leaders at COP26 in Glasgow.

Life cycle and socio-economic benefits

Life cycle and socio-economic benefits

Of course, biomass fuels, particularly wood fuels, involve energy-consuming operations such as cutting, transporting and processing of wood.

But, despite this, CO2 emissions for fossil fuels, for the same amount of energy produced (MWh), are much higher than for woody fuels. The use of woody biomass for the production of heat allows to reduce CO2 emissions between 89% and 94% compared to traditional fossil fuels.

Using biomass for heating also brings socio-economic benefits to the regions. Particularly in marginal or mountain areas when it triggers local supply chains of woody biofuel.

Why you should choose a biomass boiler

Why you should choose a biomass boiler

Although it is certified that during combustion a solid fuel such as pellets emits more dust than a gaseous fuel (methane/LPG), it is important to consider the problem in terms of quality/composition of actual toxicity on human health of the particulate emitted.

In biomass boilers, for example, pellet combustion has the following advantages:

  • emission factor (FE) of particulate matter (PM) lower than woody generator and biofuel types. FE varies in the range of 6-15 mg/MJ and is composed mainly of mineral salts, i. e. inorganic compounds.
  • Particulate matter is (almost) free of carbonaceous organic compounds (PAHs). The FE of B(a)P from a pellet boiler is in the range of 0. 03 mg/ GJ, which is 300 times lower than expected in current air quality plans (the FE reported in the 2013 Guidebook for pellet boilers is 10 mg/GJ).
  • On average, an emission of 30 kg of useful CO2/MWh has been calculated for pellets and 250 and 270 kg of useful CO2/MWh for natural gas and LPG respectively, i. e. a net CO2 saving of 220-250 kg/1,000 useful kWh each time these fossil fuels are replaced by pellets.

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