Biomass

Since the start of modern civilization, fossil fuels have been used as a source of non-renewable energy that was easily obtainable, and dependable as an energy source. But with modern science and new discoveries, it is now widely known how harmful fossil fuels can be to the environment, and how there is a decreasing supply of it as time goes on. This is when biomass, or bio energy came into the picture. Biomass is a renewable source of energy, created from recently living organic material. Energy is derived from what was contained inside the organic material, which can include things like plants, animals or organic waste products. The most commonly known biomass source is wood, from forest residues and other wood like substances, such as yard clippings, wood chips, and municipal solid waste, therefore leaving it to be the largest source of bio energy. Though biomass has advantages, disadvantages seem to sway biomass energy into a harmful depiction. 

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The pros:

-Biomass is renewable. With its source being organic material, there is a never-ending supply of it. Since the source of energy comes from organic living material, energy derived from photosynthesis and the sun is passed on through plants and animals, which is then converted into the renewable source we use. Other organic materials such as wood crop waste and garbage are constantly being produced by society in large amounts, with also can be created into an energy source.

-As mentioned earlier, fossil fuels are becoming a less reliable resource, so with the use of more clean, reliable energy, the pressure of using energy sources that can harm the environment goes down, and the reliance on a diminishing product is of less interest.

-Biomass energy is less expensive than previous outlets. It goes without the need of heavy capital interests, and does not impose on taxes of citizens like fossil fuels do. Fossil fuels cost much more money with the needs of finding it, and obtaining it, and the equipment used to obtain it. All of these things cost money, and to get money taxes can rise to help fund these projects. Biomass on the other hand doesn’t need much money, because most fuel comes from things that are already wasted.

-Using biomass can reduce amounts of waste in landfills. Waste that would of previously gone into landfills now is being used for a more profitable and cleaner cause. With minimalized waste in landfill, negative effects to the environment they bring along are also minimalized. With less waste in landfills, previous spaces for landfills can now be used for other human developments.

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The cons:

Biomass can lead to heavy deforestation. With wood and forest products being the main source of bio energy and the most widely available. Uncontrolled use of biomass can lead to risks of deforestation. Risks that come along with deforestation is loss of habitat, and drought, which is why bio energy cannot be produced in large amounts, and efforts of replanting wont match cutting rates of trees in forests.

Biomass production is slow and inefficient compared to other energy sources. While fossil fuels are ready to be used once obtained, biomass requires time for waste to be produced or tress to grow. Moving to quick on energy production can lead to huge problems like deforestation as mentioned before.

Bio energy requires large amounts of space. Factories or power plants need space and are often put built in urban areas. This leads to less space for habitats, and more human traffic to a certain area, which then leads to more pollution from the plant and the 

Biomass isn’t completely clean. When burning woods and other organic resources pollution is an effect. Fossil fuels can create major pollution from burning things like coal or using gasoline, but so can biomass when burning organic materials. Though bio energy is renewable, it can be just as harmful as the fossil fuels we’re trying to distance ourselves from.

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Our Take on Biomass:

Though biomass may have some obvious upsides to using biomass energy, we believe that the disadvantages sway our opinion towards biomass being an unreliable and harmful resource. It has many serious risks that could cause more destruction to the environment than beneficial factors. Though its renewable, it inefficient and takes up a lot of space, which leads to the decrease of habitat space and deforestation. Therefor biomass isn't a great option for a better source of energy.

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