A new approach to renewable energy: New mixed biomass pellets

Abstract

The majority of district heating systems in the Baltic countries use fossil fuels; mainly coal, oil and gas. Prices of fossil fuels are constantly increasing and the earth’s supply of them is running out, therefore there has been a rising demand for research on various new and alternative energy sources that could replace coal or petroleum products and reduce energy costs and harmful gas emissions into the environment. One of the most important types of renewable energy in the Baltic region is biofuel (plant-derived fossil fuel) which has been valued because of the availability, stable prices and reliability of biomass - plant-derived material from which biofuel is made. In general, combustion of biofuels is more efficient and less harmful to the environment than the traditional fuels, such as wood shavings or coal. The CO2 emissions are smaller by up to 50% and the amount of ash formed during combustion is only about 1%, what is approximately 15-20 times less than the amount of ash formed when burning coal. Moreover, ash generated by burning biofuels can be used for fertilization. Wood is one of the most popular types of biomass; and Baltic countries have a big potential to exploit this source of biofuel since the region has an abundant resource of forests. To ensure that fuel from biomass satisfies not only the region’s district heating needs, but also some of the other areas in demand of energy, new and unexploited or little exploited types of biomass, such as municipal solid waste, straw, forest residues (dead trees, branches), plants from energy plantations, peat, and various biogases should be used. The main reason why these biofuels have not been exploited fully is the lack of an adequate infrastructure. This paper discusses one of the newest types of biofuel - pellets. Despite several disadvantages of biofuel production from pellets, such as higher fuel prices because of additional costs involved in the