Biomass is the total mass of living organisms in an ecosystem as a source of energy and raw materials. It is closely related with agriculture and forestry since it is mostly composed of agricultural products, by-products, animal manure, by-products from forestry activities, industrial wood waste, and food waste. The development and utilization of biomass have been a very important task and will continuously be treated as an important subject in the future.
This study is a two-year project with the main purposes of developing efficient utilization systems and finding tasks and strategies to make and support policies. This study began with subjects such as grasping the current situation, excavating the problems, and finding tasks for domestic agricultural biomass utilization. Related institutions and policies of developed countries on biomass were also introduced. For the second period of the study, utilization trends and suggestions on biomass have been summarized, and policy directions and strategies of biomass utilization have been also presented based on economic analyses.
Many countries around the world are interested in developing bioenergy because it plays an important role in solving various problems caused by high crude oil price, intensive use of fossil fuel, and stagnancy of agriculture. Bioenergy may be gaseous, liquid or solid. The worldwide interest focuses on biofuel, a liquid type of bioenergy.
Bioethanol and biodiesel are representative biofuels which replace gasoline and diesel. The United States and Brazil are the main producers of bioethanol and their share of total production is 85%. Biodiesel, on the other hand, is mainly produced by member countries of the EU. The different trends of biofuel production are strongly related to the resource reserves in the production regions.
The development of bioenergy in Korea is just at the beginning stage. Bioethanol is being tested for introduction after the actual proof of assessment. On the other hand, biodiesel has been in the early stages of commercialization since 2006. The market size of biodiesel is 90 thousand kilo-liters, and its share accounts for only 0.5% of all diesel consumption. However, Korea is not in the real development stage since soybean oil, the main feedstock, is still imported from abroad.
Rapeseed and soybeans are good candidates for the feedstock of biodiesel when we assess the feasibility of feedstock based on production level, cost, technology and breeds. For bioethanol, rice (stock) and sweet potatoes are relatively good feedstocks.
The development of bioenergy in developed countries is mainly based on the competitive resources of their own. Grain-based biofuel, however, has been accompanied by unexpected serious side effects, such as environmental problems and decrease of food and feed. Some developed countries are making every effort to make biofuel from fiber, which will solve the problems caused by side effects. Bioenergy development depends on the resource reserves, technology, etc. but ultimately relies on the will of a government to develop bioenergy.
We need to be very careful, consequently, in developing bioenergy. It is required to find the most proper way for development. It cannot be done simply by adopting the existing method that developed countries are applying, but by finding ways that do not cause serious side effects to our country. For this purpose, we need to carefully set up development strategies based on good choice and concentration. For biodiesel, the conditions of good feedstock are that it should be easy to be adopted and its production is positively related to the household incomes just like rapeseed. For bioethanol, it is difficult to secure feedstock based on large-scale domestic cultivation. Therefore, we need to push forward our bioenergy development focusing on cellulosic ethanol, the second generation bioenergy which does not come into conflict with food for its feedstock. It is required not to be stingy with progressive investments and supports for the development of bioenergy which is fit for our circumstances.
Biomass from agricultural and forestry activities is usually scattered about in vast areas, and this makes it difficult to collect and be economically viable. The utilization of waste resources as feedstock, however, contributes to preventing global warming. And the production of bioenergy and biomaterials from biomass can expand into a new industry that leads to activate agriculture and rural society and form cyclic local areas.
Various forms of biomass, such as agricultural by-products, animal manure, and wood wastes of forest activities, are obtained in rural areas. Hence, it is required to prepare a comprehensive utilization system which will lead to the efficient use of biomass from various sources, rather than focusing on biomass from a single source.
The tentatively-named and locally-managed “Biomass Resource Center” is required to make biomass into energy or material resources. It is the prior task to obtain facilities and labor to produce compost, feed, and other biomaterials as well as gas and electricity from various biomass. The manure and feed should be reused for agricultural production, and the gas and electricity must be utilized for local households and agricultural activities. To operate these systems centering around the local biomass resource center, active participation of every stakeholder is a prerequisite to success, and the role of the central government is also very important.
Researchers: Park Hyun-Tae, Kim Yean-Jung, Lee Sang-Min, and Han Hye-Sung
Research Period: 2007.1~2007.12
E-mail address: htpark@krei.re.kr, yjkim@krei.re.kr, smlee@krei.re.kr, funny1978@krei.re.kr