Biomass pyrolysis for power generation - a potential technology

Abstract

Biomass, a renewable source, is well recognised as a potential fuel for the future. A study conducted by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, revealed that in India alone, the likely exploitable power generation potential for biomass bq the 2000 could be as much as 61 X 10(9) kWh of annual generation equivalent to more than 10,000MW of installed capacity in terms of thermal power plants. One of the major problems associated with biomass is that it is dispersed over large areas, and its low bulk density and biodegradability pose problems in transportation, storage and handling. There is therefore an upper limit to the size of a biomass based power generating plant, ranging from 5MWe (without support of large energy plantations) to 100MWe (with associated large waste land development through plantations).