Page 20 - Biofuels Refining and Performance

Energy and Its Biological Resources 3

and man power training with an integrated approach has been rec-
ommended.
9. Urgency:
a. World population will reach 10 billion in 2020.
b. Half of the population will have only 20 GJ/yr.
c. The other half in the industrialized countries will use 15 times as
much, i.e., 300 GJ/yr.
d. “Firewood crisis” has changed to “firewood catastrophe” and the
2
forest cover is diminishing globally at the rate of 250,000 km /yr.
Energy administration in developing countries depends mainly on
three denominators:
(1) Growth rate of population
(2) Energy self-reliant populations growing in size but lowest rate
(3) Rural population largest in size, but lowest rate of energy consumption
in most countries

Recommendations of new and alternative energy resources are
available. The emphasis is on nonfossil and renewable resources,
namely, biogas and biomass, solar active (photovoltaic), solar passive
(preheating of water), wind, minihydroelectric, and minitidal resources.
The major attempts for conservation include: conservation side legis-
lation, education, awareness, management, and forecasting.
In Europe and South America, biomass and its modification have
been given a lot of attention as a substitute to fossil fuels. The primary
material, of course, is the waste of different plant and vegetable origins.
The conversions are to biogas, alcohol, and manure. Proper selection of
waste material may lead to optimal production of the right transform.
Advanced countries, point out that electrical power is attractive in many
respects and that the search for renewable and infinite resources to
produce and supplement electrical energy should continue. Hydropower,
solar energy, wind, solid waste, biomass, geothermal energy, ocean tidal
power, and ocean thermal gradients are a few resources that need atten-
tion. In fact, many institutions and organizations have created demon-
stration models for these.
In the United Kingdom, the emphasis seems to be more on proper
selection of local conditions and availability of the resources. Biomass and
biogas need collection, transport, and processing to be properly useful
for energy generation. Setting up aerogenerators, wind pumps, and
solar heating will depend on available and favorable conditions and the
proper location. If successfully implemented, they can reduce the local
demand or share the load of a national power grid. The other resources
that remain to be developed and commercialized are listed in the fol-
lowing discussion.