Published on Aug 10, 2015
Lecture 5: Feedstocks, Aquatic Biomass & Urban Wastes (PDF with notes)
This first half of this lecture focuses on three main types of aquatic biomass; macroalgae, microalgae, and floating plants. The difference between macroalgae and microalgae is that macroalgae are large organisms like seaweed and kelp, but microalgae are single-celled organisms like spirulina and chlorella. Floating plants are unique types of biomass to consider because they are invasive, rapidly growing, and are relatively easy to harvest.
The second part of this lecture focuses on landfills, another area to carefully watch. For decades, the only solution for trash has been to landfill it or incinerate it. This is changing. The size of the carbon reserve in landfills has made them a target for bioenergy companies. Additionally, landfills are consolidated and frequently located near urban areas.