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Solid Biomass and Climate Change
Overview
Biomass is the term used to describe all the organic matter, produced by photosynthesis that exists on the earth’s surface. The source of all energy in biomass is the sun with the biomass acting as a kind of energy store.[1]. The commonly used solid biomass in developing countries are firewood, dried dung cakes and charcoal.
Solid Biomass and Climate Change
- Burning biomass on fires or rudimentary cookstoves causes indoor air pollution. Indoor air pollution is also one of the main cause of death in southeast Asia. Every year more than 200,000 people die prematurely due to indoor air pollution.
- Using firewood could lead to deforestation which further leads to soil weakening, landslide, mudslide or flood.
Each day , nearly 3 billion people cook using traditional fuel such as firewood, dried dung cakes or charcoal on open fires or rudimentary cookstoves. Mostly women and children are involved in coolectiong the biomass as well as in kitchen
For nearly 3 billion people each day, cooking is conducted on open fires or rudimentary cookstoves that are fueled by coal or solid biomass such as fire wood. Searching for and using solid biomass puts women and children’s safety at risk; depletes forests, which can weaken soil causing mudslides and destroying agricultural land; and jeopardizes human health and household and community air quality through toxic smoke emissions. Burning solid biomass is inefficient at converting energy to heat for cooking, and releases a toxic mix of health damaging pollutants that contribute to climate change at regional and global levels. In particular, some of these pollutants, such as black carbon and methane, have short life spans but significant consequences for the climate. Black carbon, which results from incomplete combustion, is estimated to contribute the equivalent of 25 to 50 percent of CO2 warming globally. Methane emissions are the second largest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide. It is clear that inefficient household energy use has adverse consequences for the environment, air quality and human health.[2]
- Burning biomass causes inc
Carbon Dept Buring biomass can create carbon debt in the nature, therfore leading to an immediate increase in the carbon of the nature until the nature balances out.
The extraction, transportation and combustion of biomass leads to a significant release of carbon into the atmosphere. According to the report by IPCC on renewable energy sources and climate change mitigation (2011), it can take decades, even centuries, before ecosystems; in particular forests recapture the carbon that has been released during biomass combustion . This leads to a "carbon debt" and could be a pottential casue for increased co2 level in the atmosphere.
