Is biomass really green?

Zwerius · 02-26-22, 08:26 AM

What I didnt read so far, is that in every "burning-process" nitrogen and oxygen from the air react to different Nitrous Oxides (NOx), which cause acidic rain and thus belong to the poluters of our atmosphere.
This happens when you burn coal, oil, gas or wood in the same way.
You can only limit it, if you can keep teh flame temperature below 800°C, which is not so easy. There are Low NOx burners, that supply the combustion air in stages, so that the combustion temperature is lowered. This reduces the amount of NOx, but doesn't bring it back to zero. In natural decomposition of wood, there is no NOx formation.
So, don't just look to CO2 that's released and taken up again.

nickchapman · 03-04-22, 08:21 AM

YESSS!
Thank you.

So in a nut shell, this boils down to chemistry...

Im wondering if methane or nitrogen oxides are worse?

Zwerius · 03-04-22, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchapman

YESSS!
Thank you.

So in a nut shell, this boils down to chemistry...

Im wondering if methane or nitrogen oxides are worse?

It's hard to say which is worse.
Methane is a greenhouse gas, like CO2. However, methane is about 25 times more potent than CO2.
NOx gasses are no greenhouse gasses, but they cause acid rain and take care of acidification of our environment (including the sea where corals are destroyed by these acids)

02-26-22, 08:26 AM	#1
Zwerius Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 70 Thanks: 18 Thanked 26 Times in 14 Posts	What I didnt read so far, is that in every "burning-process" nitrogen and oxygen from the air react to different Nitrous Oxides (NOx), which cause acidic rain and thus belong to the poluters of our atmosphere. This happens when you burn coal, oil, gas or wood in the same way. You can only limit it, if you can keep teh flame temperature below 800°C, which is not so easy. There are Low NOx burners, that supply the combustion air in stages, so that the combustion temperature is lowered. This reduces the amount of NOx, but doesn't bring it back to zero. In natural decomposition of wood, there is no NOx formation. So, don't just look to CO2 that's released and taken up again.

03-04-22, 08:21 AM	#2
nickchapman Lurking Renovator Join Date: Feb 2022 Location: Liverpool, UK Posts: 8 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	YESSS! Thank you. So in a nut shell, this boils down to chemistry... Im wondering if methane or nitrogen oxides are worse?