Abstract
Since the dawn of civilization until the middle of the nineteenth century, biomass was the world’s dominant source of energy and its consumption grew from approximately 50 million tons of oil equivalent in the beginning of the Christian era to 1,000 tons of oil equivalent today (a 20-fold increase). In this period, biomass has supplied the needs of the population for cooking and heating as well as shipbuilding, housing, and forges to process metals (mainly for weapons). Presently, biomass accounts for about 10% of the world’s primary energy consumption.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
CETESB. 2008. São Paulo State Air Quality Report. Available at: http://www.cetesb.sp.gov.br/Ar/publicacoes.asp.
Doornbosch, R., Steenblik, R. 2007. Biofuels: is the cure worse than the disease ? OECD – Round table on sustainable development. Paris. Available at: http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2007/OECD_Biofuels_Cure_Worse_Than_Disease_Sept07.pdf.
FAOSTAT (United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization) FAO. 2007. Available at: http://faostat.fao.org/default.aspx.
Fargione, J., Hill, J., Tilman, D., Polasky, S., Hawthorne, P. 2008. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Science, 319, 1235–1238, doi: 10.1126/science.1152747.
Goldemberg, J., Coelho, S.T. 2004. Renewable energy – traditional biomass vs. modern biomass. Energy Policy, 32, 711–714.
Goldemberg, J., Coelho, S.T., Lucon, O., Nastari, P.M. 2004. Ethanol learning curve – the Brazilian experience. Biomass Bioenergy, 26, 301.
Goldemberg, J. 1998. Energy, environment and development. ISBN 85-314-0452-5.
Goldemberg, J. 2007. Ethanol for a sustainable energy future. Science, 315, 808–810.
Goldemberg, J., Guardabassi, P. 2008. Are biofuels a feasible option? Energy Policy, doi:10.1016/ j.enpol.2008.08.031. Energy Policy 37. 10–14.
InterAcademy Council – IAC. 2007. Biomass. Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future. IAC, Amsterdam, p. 111.
International Energy Agency. Statistics and Balance. 2005. Available at: http://www.iea.org/Textbase/stats/index.asp.
IPCC. 2007. IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group III.
World Energy Assessment – WEA. 2000. Energy and the challenge of sustainability. United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Development of Economic and Social Affairs and World Energy Council.
World Watch Institute. 2006. Available at: http://www.worldwatch.org/system/files/EBF008_1.pdf)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Goldemberg, J. (2011). The Role of Biomass in the World’s Energy System. In: Buckeridge, M., Goldman, G. (eds) Routes to Cellulosic Ethanol. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92740-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92740-4_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-92739-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-92740-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)