Jung Kim
Wood Makes Comeback as a Fuel
By: Kate Galbraith
Published: May 1, 2012
Picture:
This picture shows wood
pellets that can be used as an alternative for coal or oil. It specifically
shows that instead of using coal for getting the fireplace going that wood
pellets are easy to use as well as more environmentally friendly. Wood pellets
can be used for many ways as alternative resources but mostly for heating.
Summary:
Wood is
making its way back as a good resource to use through the new pellet
technology. These pellets look like dog kibble and are made from mostly sawdust
and wood shavings which can be used for generating heat or electricity. The
wood pellets are also small and compact, making it easier to transport. Analysts
say that over the long term Asia and America could grow rapidly from the pellet
technology while Europe is strongly demanding wood pellets. From 2006 and 2010
pellet production worldwide more than doubled according to the IEA Bioenergy report. The production is
not the only increase, that is; price of the pellets rose up making it nearly
10% more than it cost the year before. Even with the high prices many people
are making the switch to wood pellets because they want to switch to renewable
sources of energy. This is agreeable with many of the European countries
because of higher prices they have for heating oil. Though, environmentalists
are alarmed at the growing rate of wood pellets and are worried producers may
actually use wood from the environment for making pellets. Even with this in
mind all around the world people are thinking of wood pellets as a great idea
and cheaper than using oil.
Opinion/Reflection:
It was astonishing to me that
wood pellets are using sources like wood shavings and sawdust to use as an
alternative source for heating or electricity. To see something being unused
and putting it to its fullest potential is amazing just as wood pellets have
done. I can relate to the wood pellets because I have tried putting together
scraps of useless paper before to make a birthday card but it did not turn out
the best it could be. Even so instead of the paper going to waste it was used
as an alternative to making a card just like the wood shavings and sawdust did
for making wood pellets. What makes me acknowledge these pellets even more is that
it is friendly to use for the environment. Instead of using oil or coal for
fire which create gases in the air that are bad for Earth, there are wood
pellets that will not create these bad gases. This is good for many people with
fireplaces because it will keep the atmosphere more clean than it would with
using coal or oil. Even with all these great factors of wood pellets there is a
high fee for it. I think that with the high fee many people may not buy wood
pellets especially with the tough economy we have here in America. Even so
there are people who will because of the environmental friendliness. Though it
may not be in our country there are many other countries or continents that
will buy the pellets. I think that with Europe having to burn oil (which cost
more than wood pellets) they will most likely keep changing to wood pellets.
Questions:
1.
What do
you think would happen if most of the world used wood pellets? Name at least 2
things.
2.
Will
wood pellets ever become a greater source of energy than solar panels or wind
turbines? Explain.
3.
What
are some ways we can make wood pellets become more common to use?
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that scientists are making adaptations to our energy sources and the people of the world are actually buying into it. However, not enough people are converting because I still have an oil heated home, along with most of my neighborhood. We should use this energy source more often and worldwide for a two reasons. By the ways of producing this renewable energy, it is good for the environment because we have to plant trees. Also, when burned, its exhaust gases will not harm the environment as much as oil and other non-renewable sources do. The only thing I hate to see is that the prices of this energy source have risen now that people are starting to use them. This is just like when I go to the supermarket and organic, healthy foods are more expensive over junk food. This is a large moral problem the world has, that money takes precedence over morality. However, the wood pellets are a good step to making the Earth a cleaner place.
Question 1:
If the world used wood pellets I believe it would spark many more eco-friendly advancements. Businesses would strive to create a more eco-friendly energy source, or make cheaper versions. Also, it would be the new trend for people to try, since this happened with the Toyota Prius. Another thing that would happen is many more forests would be grown and protected. This would help the world in many ways by reducing greenhouse gases and deforestation. The more demand for this source the more trees. The more trees the less carbon dioxide in the air, there global warming would be reduced. Overall, the wood pellet production would be a great advancement for energy resources.
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteUsing wood pellets instead of other sources of energy, on the surface, seems like a good idea. It takes a renewable source and gives it an environmentally friendly purpose. However, it does not seem to be going anywhere. There are many ideas on how to use renewable resources instead of nonrenewable; these ideas just have to catch on with the public. With the wood pellets, there has been some enthusiasm, but when looking at the numbers, it was used for less than 3% of electricity in places like the Netherlands, and it can be more expensive than using coal or oil. Plus, environmentalist are not fully supportive of the pellets because of worry that it will be abused and not just made from “logging leftovers,” but from trees meant for the pellets. If the wood pellets ever became popular, the price would become too high and it would probably just be wood meant for the pellets. On the internet and on the news I see many environmental alternatives to using nonrenewable resources; for example, one such is putting vegetable oil in a car. We just need to find the best one and get the people to want it too.
Questions
1) By the way wood pellets are used now, do you believe they will amount to be the next great energy source?
2) What other renewable resources have you heard to replace oil and coal?
3) Would it be worth replacing wood pellets with oil and coal if there is a chance the pellets would become a nonrenewable resource?
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteUsing wood pellets sounds like a really good alternative to nonrenewable resources. Although it is more expensive to use wood pellets in some countries compared to coal, it is a good sign that people are starting to switch to alternative energies. However, so few people are switching (3-4%) that it should be advertised and promoted more. We learned in class about how nearly 50% of all energy in Pennsylvania is from coal. Since Pennsylvania has many forests and trees, there is probably a large amount of logging leftovers, which is what is used to make wood pellets. Personally my family's house is powered by oil, and if we switched to wood pellets we could save time and the environment. You only have to remove an ash tray once a year with wood pellets, which is very convenient. They are used from leftover loggings, which is abundant in Pennsylvania. If Pennsylvanians would switch to wood pellets as their energy source, we would greatly reduce our dependency on oil, coal and natural gas.
Question 2
Wood pellets can become a larger source of energy than fossil fuels, but most likely not as much as solar and wind energy. One reason why not is because wind and solar are only build once, and need no new resources after that. They can produce enough energy without needing any resources. People who use wood pellets would need to keep buying wood pellets to power their homes, which cost money. While wood pellets save money up front compared to solar and wind energy, wind and solar energy are nearly free once they are built, as you don't need to pay over time. You only need the resources to build the solar panel or wind turbine, then you don't need any more. Wood pellets are still a better choice than fossil fuels, but not a better choice than solar and wind energy.
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteIt’s good to know that we are trying to find alternative energy sources. Who would have known you could make them from common things such as sawdust and wood shavings. Also it is surprising how in four years pellet production doubled worldwide. We should try and make the prices go down because in some places it is more than coal. Even though people want to try and use renewable things they would have to be cheaper to make them worth it because people always want to save money. We should be trying to go for other renewable sources because even though this is a good idea it still releases greenhouse gases. We also want to try and find better alternative energy resources because people might start cutting down regular trees and trees help make oxygen. Destroying even more of trees and forests would hurt our planet.
Answer to question 3.
There are many ways we can help make wood pellets more common. First we can send them to stores. We could put pellets in sections where people buy coal or wood. When they see that it could be better they might buy it. Also they should make some commercials or things like that to help promote pellets. Overall the government could use these in plants instead of coal and get discounts for it so it would be cheaper than coal. If it is cheaper than more would want to buy it. Producing more amounts of pellets would make the price of pellets go down like I said earlier if the price goes down then more will buy. Those are some of my ideas for make wooden pellets more common to use.