Coal is the largest source of electricity generation (accounting for 40% of global electricity production). According to a report by GlobalData, global coal mining is forecast to reach 8,776.5 million tons (Mt) by 2025. However, by the beginning of October 2021, coal prices in the international market have set the price level. record high (>200 USD/ton), increased 5 times over the same period last year and led to the energy crisis. Moreover, the burning of coal is the cause of a large amount of carbon emissions, posing a great threat to the atmosphere and human health.
Considering that all businesses are aiming for a green economy today, coal or fossil fuels in general are no longer an effective fuel source. The question now is ‘If not coal, then what?’. First, to answer this question, let’s Zero Waste review the serious consequences of dependence on coal.
According to the Energy Information Administration, on average burning 1 ton of coal produces 2.86 tons of CO2 emissions. In addition, the coal burning process also emits harmful gases such as SO2, which causes acid rain, and NOx, which causes smog, which negatively affects the environment and human health.
Besides, coal power plants annually discharge millions of tons of toxic wastes into water sources such as heavy metals selenium, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, thallium,… leading to serious consequences for the environment. humans if they come into contact with this contaminated water source.
Because of these grave dangers, coal or fossil fuels in general are no longer a safe source of energy. This means that there is a need for an alternative energy solution to coal with green – clean – more efficient properties.
There is a more efficient alternative fuel source - Biomass
Currently, renewable energy is considered an energy solution that is both environmentally friendly and brings production efficiency no less than coal. Biomass is a type of renewable energy derived from agro-forestry by-products and brings benefits such as:
- Converting waste into energy in production: With its origin from by-products (what’s left over) from agro-forestry products such as bagasse, rice husk, sawdust, shavings,…Things that seem like useless in the production process but can be converted into potential energy. Since then, not only saving fuel costs from making use of agro-forestry waste, businesses can also meet the environmental standards of the state.
- Biomass is cyclical compared to coal because it can be regenerated regularly through cropping cycles. More specifically, if coal takes more than a million years to form underground, the process of producing biomass takes only a few years.
- With the variety of biomass types, the cost of some fuels is much lower than coal but the energy efficiency remains constant (Figure 1).
When using Biomass to replace coal, the carbon content in the natural carbon cycle is burned and does not increase CO2 into the atmosphere – the cause of the greenhouse effect. The use of Biomass for energy production (Steam – Heat – Electricity) also contributes to minimizing methane emissions and reducing ash in production (Figure 2).
One of the types of energy generated from biomass burning is steam, a potential energy source and an effective energy solution for businesses.
Saturated steam system - Excellent energy solution for industrial zones
Zero Waste’s saturated boiler system using biomass can meet the needs of efficient energy use of your business with the following benefits:
- Saturated steam formed by water → cheap, easy to obtain, safe because it is non-toxic, non-flammable like petroleum,…
- Steam can be used as soon as the valve is opened → no pump needed
- Steam contains a large amount of heat (latent heat) → carries a large energy source; Large amounts of heat can be transferred to the product faster than hot water and hot air.
- It is easy to control the temperature because if the vapor pressure is constant, the temperature will not change.
In general, biomass is an effective solution to replace coal and Zero Waste is proud to be one of the most efficient clean energy conversion units in Vietnam’s energy market.
