Biomass that has been converted to bioenergy, can provide the power for our cities and industries, the liquid fuel for our planes and automobiles; it can heat our public swimming pools, and warm and cool our homes. Biomass is a key building block of biofuels and a broad range of bio-products. It can be specially grown for electricity production or to produce heat in the energy context, as an alternative to fossil fuels. In fact, anything that can be made from fossil fuels \u2013 including plastics \u2013 can now be produced using biomass as a feedstock.<\/p>\n
Interview<\/p>\n
FDI \u2013 How do you define biomass and how widely is it used in Australia?<\/p>\n
Dr Brooksbank \u2013 Biomass is material derived from plants, animals and their by-products and residues. Agriculture, human habitation and forestry generate crop wastes and remains, manures and sludges, rendered animal fats, used oils and timber residues. These products are known collectively as \u201cbiomass\u201d and are basically the result of the process of photosynthesis which captures and stores the sun\u2019s energy in the form of chemical bonds. Biomass is composed largely of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and when broken down into smaller molecules, can then be reformed into many of the products that we use daily.<\/p>\n
The key difference between biomass as an energy source, and alternatives like fossil fuels, is the difference between the time it takes to replenish the source of each.\u00a0 Biomass takes carbon out of the atmosphere as it grows and returns it as it is burned. If managed on a sustainable basis, biomass is harvested as part of a constantly replenished crop. This is either through plantation forestry or agricultural management, or as part of a continuous programme of replanting, where the new growth takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, at the same time as it is released by combustion of the previous harvest.<\/p>\n
The use of biomass as a fuel source is expanding rapidly across Australia. Anywhere fossil fuels are used to provide heat energy, biomass can produce that heat for around a fifth of the cost of gas. Examples of where heat energy is required are abattoirs, hospitals, public swimming pools and animal feed pellet production systems. The other area where the use of biomass is quickly growing is existing industries that have waste biomass that is incurring a cost of disposal. Examples include intensive animal industries such as piggeries, beef feedlots, dairies and chicken production facilities. While, in some cases, these businesses might be paying over $100 a tonne to remove their waste, that material is now starting to be considered a resource that can be utilised for energy and fertilizer production. This is a key point; there are many materials our society produces that are considered waste products at the end of their life, but anything made from something that is grown should really be considered a resource.<\/p>\n
An example might be the materials found on the front lawns of houses when the neighbourhood curb-side rubbish collection occurs. All that material is destined for landfill, but anything with wood in it (the frame of that old piece of furniture, wooden toys, cardboard boxes or leftover timber) is a resource that could be diverted to produce energy or a range of other beneficial products, to go back into society rather than into land fill. Think about when houses are demolished. All the material, including the timber roof and wall frames, are usually broken up and taken away for disposal; the timber component is basically stored energy that could be used instead of into that same hole in the ground.<\/p>\n
FDI \u2013 What benefits would biomass have to Australia\u2019s agricultural, economic and environmental future?<\/p>\n
Dr Brooksbank -There are a wide range of benefits that could be gained for Australia\u2019s agricultural, economic and environmental future, and the two examples discussed are a good place to start. Sending material to landfill is not only a tragic waste of a resource, it is also a costly exercise as we need to keep finding more places to bury our waste. This is creating an environmental issue for future generations as the organic biomass slowly breaks down and releases methane \u2013 a potent greenhouse gas. Applying some thought to how we recover the organic component of our waste to be put to better use rather than burying it will provide a range of benefits to society. These include new employment opportunities in the recovery and use of these materials, reduced reliance on the production of new (often imported) goods, and the creation of whole new industries. Research should concentrate on ensuring that maximum benefit is gained from the food that we grow and the resources we use. As well, new land fill sites will not be needed.<\/p>\n
The benefits to agriculture and forestry are potentially enormous once we start to see biologically-derived materials as resources, rather than waste. Western Australia produces millions of tonnes of these materials in the form of plantation and crop residues. Examples are the remains of the tree once logging is complete; the straw from cereal crops; and the biomass residues from horticulture such as the tomato vines after the fruit has been removed. There is also beneficial waste in the form of animal effluent produced in dairies, piggeries, chicken sheds and shearing sheds. Currently used disposal methods of disposal of these resources cause a range of environmental issues. Consider the burning of cereal straw in the paddock resulting in the loss of the embedded energy into the atmosphere (the air filled with smoke). There is also the loss of nitrogen which, then needs to be replaced by adding more fertilizer the following year. Another example is effluent from animal industries. Wash down water (effluent) contains nutrients which can end up in our river systems if not managed well at source. Nutrients lost from a range of sources, including agriculture, can impact adversely on the health of rivers, contributing to algal blooms in our rivers, and at times fish kills. Can these nutrients be put to better use, whilst at the same time reducing the offsite impacts of these nutrients? While the negative impacts on the way we dispose of our biological waste materials are concerning, the good news there are significant positive impacts of realising the value of these resources. A great example is the addition to a piggery of an anaerobic digester which, uses bacteria to turn pig faeces into methane gas that in turn can provide gas to an engine to create electricity. Where the faeces and the straw bedding once caused a headache for the farmer because they had to find a way to dispose it, that same material is providing the energy required to power the piggery and often the feed mill as well. What once was a problem waste is now an asset. Perth now has one of the biggest anaerobic digesters in Australia, taking all the food waste from our metropolitan supermarkets and turns it into energy. The material remaining after the energy extraction process is full of nutrients and these will eventually be returned to farms to feed the growth of the next crop. While these kinds of installations are just starting to become popular in Australia, in Germany, almost every animal farm has had its own anaerobic digester system for years<\/p>\n
To summarise, once we stop seeing these materials as waste and start realising their potential as resources, the opportunities are there to create renewable energy, reduce our negative impact on the environment, and create whole new industries that will offer regional jobs.<\/p>\n
FDI \u2013 What needs to be done to bring about these benefits?<\/p>\n
Dr Brooksbank \u2013 The technology we need to divert all of our biological waste materials away from landfill exists today. Systems are being further refined to improve their efficiency and profitability of the enterprises using them. While there is now a good selection of new industries that have developed around the use of biomass in Australia, there are some things that are holding the industry back. Firstly, there is a lack of familiarity with, and understanding of, the processes involved and how they can be applied to particular resource streams. A number of initiatives are working on addressing the shortfalls. These include work done by the industry body Bioenergy Australia and a project funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) called the Australian Biomass for Bioenergy Assessment or ABBA project. The ABBA project has attempted to map all the biomass that might be available for the production of bioenergy and is now working hard to help industries that have excess biomass to find the highest value use for that material.<\/p>\n
Additionally, there are cost issues that have a significant impact on the uptake of new biomass technologies.\u00a0 Sending waste biomass to landfill is generally the cheapest option in Australia.\u00a0 However, Queensland and New South Wales have introduced biofuels mandates that have led to an increase in investment by private industries, not just in the production of biofuels but in other high value chemicals and products.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
About the Interviewee:<\/p>\n
Dr Kim Brooksbank has been looking for ways to improve the sustainability of agriculture in Western Australia for the past 20 years. This has included research into the impact of perennials on the hydrology of wheatbelt farms as well as work on assessing and managing a range of soil degradation issues such as acidity, compaction and erosion. Kim has been involved in bioenergy industry development since 2001 and is currently managing the Resource Assessment and Response project within the sustainability section of the Department of Regional Development and Primary Industries.\u00a0 When he\u2019s not working on other people\u2019s farms, he is working his own commercial vegetable farm near Albany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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