UCCS PES/ENSC 2500: Renewable Energy
Chapter 16 Biomass Energy
name: ______________________________
Problem 16.1
How many cords of wood per day would be needed for a wood-fired generating station that produces 1000 MWe
continuously (typical of a coal-fired facility) at 35% efficiency?
At 35% efficiency, 1000 MWe corresponds to:
Assuming that the efficiency of burning wood is the same as burning coal, then the energy produced per day is
4
From Appendix V, the energy content of wood is 1.9 × 10 MJ/cord.
Therefore the energy requirement will use
Problem 16.4
Estimate the necessary fuel tank volume and fuel mass for a vehicle operating on E85 as compared to a
gasoline vehicle in order to achieve the same driving range.
The density of ethanol from Table 16.2 is 0.789 kg/L.
The density of gasoline from Example 16.3 is 0.72 kg/L.
The density of E85 can be estimated to be
(0.85) × (0.789 kg/L) + (0.15) × (0.72 kg/L) = ________________ kg/L
The energy content of ethanol, from Table 16.2 is 23.5 MJ/L and for gasoline (from Appendix V) it is 34.8 MJ/L.
The energy content of E85 can be estimated to be
(0.85) × (23.5 MJ/L) + (0.15) × (34.8 MJ/L) = _________________ MJ/L
Therefore the ratio of volumes of E85 to gasoline to achieve the same energy content is
The ratio of masses is