We all know, or almost all of us, that biomass is a renewable energy source, that it comes from the sun, that it is abundant, and that it emits CO₂.2, Of course, but no more than the energy consumed by the plant from which it originates during photosynthesis. We also value the fact that it is primarily produced in rural areas, that its valorization creates significant employment and wealth, and that it contributes to combating depopulation by creating new opportunities in sparsely populated Spain.
We know its versatility that makes it suitable for an innumerable set of technologies (anaerobic digestion, combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, etc.) and enables it to produce thermal and electrical energy, obtain bioproducts (chips, pellets, biogas, syngas, biomethane, biohydrogen, etc.), biofuels and biomaterials, and, in addition, it is manageable, unlike its sisters solar or wind power.
Well, despite all this, it has never played a relevant role in the renewable energy sector as a whole, at least in Spain, remaining relegated in terms of power and energy in the graphs and practically never appearing in the general media, which are more inclined to project the image of renewable energies in the form of a solar panel or a wind turbine, without underestimating their role at all, quite the contrary.
However, we are now seeing how companies with the highest energy consumption are setting themselves the goal of decarbonizing and reducing their GHG emissions into the atmosphere. They are starting to crunch the numbers and never reach 100% unless they include biomass. Now it seems that this energy source, so abundant and well-known in Spain, is finally beginning to take its rightful place.
Biomass is also discussed when terms that are becoming more commonly used are heard, such as biomethane, biohydrogen, methanol, circular economy, or bioeconomy.
And it is now, precisely now, that the entire biomass sector must demonstrate that it is a serious, powerful, reliable sector, one that can be invested in, capable of being certified with the most demanding standards of quality and sustainability, capable of setting prices in the medium term, of course indexed to other fuels or to the cost of CO2 emission allowances2.
It is precisely now that we have to go out and play our game knowing that we are competitive and that we can fight on equal terms with other renewables and, above all, against fossil fuels.
We cannot let this opportunity that presents itself in the coming years go to waste; we must be very serious and rigorous when estimating the available resource, type, usable quantities, seasonality, properties according to the requirements of the process or equipment to which it will be used, its costs, in terms of primary energy if possible, the standards to which we must adhere…
In short, we must decisively commit to biomass as one of the solutions for sustainable industrial development, including it in private and public renewable energy plans in Spain, as one of the sources with the greatest future potential and a broad field of development that until now seemed dormant, but which is now becoming clear. It's time for biomass.
Published in Biomass News No. 7 – APRIL 2023