On the journey towards sustainable development, using bioenergy is considered a trend that many countries, organizations and businesses are responding to. Using waste materials in life or in the fields of livestock and production, bioenergy has many great benefits that positively affect the environment. So what is bioenergy? Let's GREEN IN Find out more about this issue through the article below!
1. What is bioenergy?
Bioenergy is understood as the energy source that exists inside biomass or biofuel. The release of this energy can be through special processing or simply applying the combustion process.
Faced with climate change, rising sea levels, and environmental pollution, especially air pollution, the push to replace fossil fuels is growing stronger. Although the potential of fossil fuels can still meet demand for several decades to several hundred years, governments around the world are trying to find sustainable alternatives, in which environmentally friendly renewable energy is given priority for development. Bioenergy stands out as a potential option thanks to its carbon neutrality: the carbon that plants absorb from the atmosphere during photosynthesis will be returned to the atmosphere when burned, contributing to reducing negative impacts on the environment.
1.1. Biomass
Biomass is understood as organic matter that at some point in its life cycle will be affected by the process of photosynthesis from natural light. The most typical organisms for this concept include plants, wood, algae, grass, and even urban waste. Biomass stores chemical energy from sunlight through the process of photosynthesis, so bioenergy is considered a form of renewable energy. Unlike fossil fuels, bioenergy feedstocks can be produced through farming activities.
1.2. Biofuels
While biomass is usually in solid form, biofuels are usually in gaseous or liquid form. This type of bioenergy is considered to be more commercially viable than biomass. Biofuels can be produced from a variety of feedstocks and are commonly used in the transportation sector because they can be stored in liquid form.
Currently, biofuels will include 3 main groups: biogas, biogasoline and biodiesel.
Biodiesel
Conventional diesel can be replaced by liquid fuels with similar properties. Similarly, liquid biofuels prepared through the process of deriving bio-oils and fats by reacting them with certain alcohols such as methanol through a chemical process can also be used to replace conventional diesel.
Biogasoline - Biogasoline
Liquid fuel (ethanol) can also act as a fuel additive to blend into gasoline. The method of producing ethanol is extremely simple when applying the fermentation process of some organic products such as cellulose, starch or lignocellulose. This type of liquid fuel will be mixed with gasoline in the appropriate ratio to create biofuel used to replace the traditional gasoline line before.
Biogas - Biogas
Biogas is understood as an organic gas containing components including methane and some other homologues. This type of biogas is produced through the fermentation process of some organic biomass of agricultural waste (mainly cellulose) to replace gas produced from petroleum.
2. Potential for bio-energy development in Vietnam
In the context of rising oil prices and increasingly serious global warming. The development of bioenergy has brought positive impacts on the environment as well as economic value to Vietnam. This innovation process is still being promoted but the results achieved are not really outstanding.
On the journey to promote the transition to bioenergy, Vietnam still has many challenges to overcome:
- Unstable fuel supply causes input material prices to fluctuate seasonally, directly affecting product prices.
- The exploitation of bioenergy requires high technology applications.
- Policies to encourage the development of biogas power and biomass power plants from bagasse are still not attractive enough for investors.
3. Applying bio-energy forms to life
3.1. Electricity production sector
In Vietnam as well as many countries in the world, bioenergy is an important source of raw materials for electricity production. The production process will begin by burning biomass energy to create steam to run turbines and produce electricity. This method of electricity production will reduce environmental pollution.
3.2. Agricultural sector
In the agricultural sector, biomass energy is used as a useful fertilizer in soil regeneration, improving crop productivity in addition to the method of using biochar. Not only that, the process of biomass decomposition can also produce a renewable energy source biogas that is applied for many different purposes.
3.3. Industry and transportation
In the industrial and transportation sectors, some biomass derivatives (ethanol, biodiesel) are used to replace diesel or gasoline. This change will minimize the amount of carbon emissions produced into the environment. This creates strong conditions for the chemical industry to move towards the goal of sustainable development.
4. Using bioenergy towards net zero target
At COP26, Vietnam committed to achieving the goal of net zero emissions by 0, demonstrating its responsibility in implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change. At COP2050 in 28, Vietnam once again reaffirmed its determination to join hands with the international community to combat climate change, while demonstrating strong efforts from the political system, ministries, sectors, and the entire population to realize this commitment.
According to 2016 data, the energy sector accounts for nearly 65% of Vietnam's total greenhouse gas emissions. During the 2024–2028 period, Vietnam will implement specific projects to promote the JETP (Just Energy Transition Partnership) to realize the Net Zero goal by 2050, while aiming for sustainable, people-centered development.
The Institute for Strategic and Industrial Policy Studies assessed that promoting the development of renewable energy such as wind, hydropower, solar panels and biomass is an important strategy to reduce dependence on fossil energy. Along with that, McKinsey & Company has recommended that Vietnam needs to take drastic and cautious actions in the energy sector to reduce emissions, creating a premise for the Net Zero target.
5. Conclusion
The above article has helped you learn about bioenergy. Hopefully our information has been helpful to you and contributed to the process of protecting the green - clean - beautiful environment. Don't forget to follow the next articles at GREEN IN for more updated information!