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Energy from biomass in Europe
Agricultural Wastes 4 (1982) 79-81
BOOK
REVIEWS
Paiz, W. and Chartier, P., Energy from Biomass in Europe. Applied Science Publishers, London. xiv + 234pp. 1981. Price: £15.00. There are a number of processes for producing energy from biomass; some require particular forms of biomass (e.g. dry), some are more generally applicable and some are nearer to full-scale operation than others. In this book these facts are taken into consideration, but it is not a textbook on methods of producing energy. What the book does--and it does it well--is to act as a compilation of the different forms of biomass available in Europe on land and in the nearby seas. Not only are detailed assessments made of total amounts of biomass, but its distribution and its availability for energy production--for instance, sizes and numbers of farms--are considered when animal excreta are dealt with. In this way the estimates of biomass energy potentials are much more realistic than those in the papers which consider only total masses. Animal and crop wastes are dealt with but calculations are also made on energy crops, either as catch crops or as crops on presently under-utilised land--biomass production which could take place without radical changes in present agricultural methods or the eating habits of the population. The facts and figures given are many and, apart from statistics on the actual biomass, include related topics such as temperature, rainfall and other meteorological data, land use and present biomass usage, overall and for particular countries. European energy consumption is, of course, also considered and recommendations are made for future research and development work on energy production processes and the facts and figures about biomass production that are still needed. Biomass energy cannot replace all---or even a major part o f - - t h e energy used in a densely populated and highly industrialised area such as Europe, but it can make a significant contribution and is renewable. It is impossible, in a short review, to indicate all the data collected together in a book such as this--there is too much. But 79 Agricultural Wastes(4) (1982)--© Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1982 Printed in Great Britain
80
BOOK REVIEWS
it can be said that this book contains the data needed by those working on the production of energy from biomass and also by anyone who has to consider energy policies and the ways in which energy might be produced in the future.
van Brakel, J. The Ignis Fatuus of Biogas. Small-scale Anaerobic Digesters (Biogas Plants)." A Critical Review of the Pre-1970 Literature. Delft University Press, Delft, The Netherlands. viii + 141 pp. Price: Dutch Florins 28.80. This is in some respects an 'odd' book. The general tenor of the writing echoes the title--that men have been long working unsuccessfully to reach that Will-O'-theWisp, the useful production of energy from agricultural wastes: on the other hand, the author seems to suggest that all facts about biogas production were known by 1970 and that later research is but rediscovering, and that digestion can be assessed on these earlier results. To a large extent the first theme--the non-success of the small digesters described here--is correct, but factors other than engineering difficulties contributed to this. The digesters of the West were, in general, conceived as the answer to the particular problems of fuel shortages in times such as war and its aftermath. Plentiful and cheap supplies of oil and other fuels became a disincentive to further work. There was also a turning away from animal excreta as fertilisers to the more easily applied chemical fertilisers, and pollution from farms was not a great problem. The smaller, 'peasant' digesters of the East had other problems, outlined in the book. However, it seemed to the reviewer and his colleagues when they started work on anaerobic digesters in the 1960's (for pollution control; energy production alone was still not economic at the then prices of conventional fuels) that although there were papers on digestion it was often very difficult to determine exactly how the digesters were built, how they were operated and what results were obtained. Experiments were unsystematic and short term, digesters were loaded with this, that and the other, in no particular way and often for no particular reason. This the author brings out in his book. In addition, most of the earlier agricultural digesters were batch digesters, for operation on the 'solid' farmyard manure of the traditional farm. What is not stressed in the book is that the impetus to the present work on farm digesters was, first, the intensive farm unit with its slurry system of waste collection and its pollution. Secondly, the vast increase in oil and coal prices, together with the realisation t h a t - - f o r political reasons in the short term and finite resources in the longer term--supplies, particularly of oil, could not be guaranteed, changed the economic basis of producing biogas. Modern digester research has been based on the continuous flow digester to deal with these slurries and is backed up by greater knowledge of the behaviour of bacteria and the principles of continuous culture. Obviously, while some of the facts now being reported about anaerobic digestion
BOOK
REVIEWS
Paiz, W. and Chartier, P., Energy from Biomass in Europe. Applied Science Publishers, London. xiv + 234pp. 1981. Price: £15.00. There are a number of processes for producing energy from biomass; some require particular forms of biomass (e.g. dry), some are more generally applicable and some are nearer to full-scale operation than others. In this book these facts are taken into consideration, but it is not a textbook on methods of producing energy. What the book does--and it does it well--is to act as a compilation of the different forms of biomass available in Europe on land and in the nearby seas. Not only are detailed assessments made of total amounts of biomass, but its distribution and its availability for energy production--for instance, sizes and numbers of farms--are considered when animal excreta are dealt with. In this way the estimates of biomass energy potentials are much more realistic than those in the papers which consider only total masses. Animal and crop wastes are dealt with but calculations are also made on energy crops, either as catch crops or as crops on presently under-utilised land--biomass production which could take place without radical changes in present agricultural methods or the eating habits of the population. The facts and figures given are many and, apart from statistics on the actual biomass, include related topics such as temperature, rainfall and other meteorological data, land use and present biomass usage, overall and for particular countries. European energy consumption is, of course, also considered and recommendations are made for future research and development work on energy production processes and the facts and figures about biomass production that are still needed. Biomass energy cannot replace all---or even a major part o f - - t h e energy used in a densely populated and highly industrialised area such as Europe, but it can make a significant contribution and is renewable. It is impossible, in a short review, to indicate all the data collected together in a book such as this--there is too much. But 79 Agricultural Wastes(4) (1982)--© Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1982 Printed in Great Britain
80
BOOK REVIEWS
it can be said that this book contains the data needed by those working on the production of energy from biomass and also by anyone who has to consider energy policies and the ways in which energy might be produced in the future.
van Brakel, J. The Ignis Fatuus of Biogas. Small-scale Anaerobic Digesters (Biogas Plants)." A Critical Review of the Pre-1970 Literature. Delft University Press, Delft, The Netherlands. viii + 141 pp. Price: Dutch Florins 28.80. This is in some respects an 'odd' book. The general tenor of the writing echoes the title--that men have been long working unsuccessfully to reach that Will-O'-theWisp, the useful production of energy from agricultural wastes: on the other hand, the author seems to suggest that all facts about biogas production were known by 1970 and that later research is but rediscovering, and that digestion can be assessed on these earlier results. To a large extent the first theme--the non-success of the small digesters described here--is correct, but factors other than engineering difficulties contributed to this. The digesters of the West were, in general, conceived as the answer to the particular problems of fuel shortages in times such as war and its aftermath. Plentiful and cheap supplies of oil and other fuels became a disincentive to further work. There was also a turning away from animal excreta as fertilisers to the more easily applied chemical fertilisers, and pollution from farms was not a great problem. The smaller, 'peasant' digesters of the East had other problems, outlined in the book. However, it seemed to the reviewer and his colleagues when they started work on anaerobic digesters in the 1960's (for pollution control; energy production alone was still not economic at the then prices of conventional fuels) that although there were papers on digestion it was often very difficult to determine exactly how the digesters were built, how they were operated and what results were obtained. Experiments were unsystematic and short term, digesters were loaded with this, that and the other, in no particular way and often for no particular reason. This the author brings out in his book. In addition, most of the earlier agricultural digesters were batch digesters, for operation on the 'solid' farmyard manure of the traditional farm. What is not stressed in the book is that the impetus to the present work on farm digesters was, first, the intensive farm unit with its slurry system of waste collection and its pollution. Secondly, the vast increase in oil and coal prices, together with the realisation t h a t - - f o r political reasons in the short term and finite resources in the longer term--supplies, particularly of oil, could not be guaranteed, changed the economic basis of producing biogas. Modern digester research has been based on the continuous flow digester to deal with these slurries and is backed up by greater knowledge of the behaviour of bacteria and the principles of continuous culture. Obviously, while some of the facts now being reported about anaerobic digestion