ABSTRACT
Over the last several decades (particularly in Europe and South America), much effort has been made to use renewable bioenergy, which uses biomass (and cellulosic waste), because this type of energy is carbon neutral in its natural life cycle. Unlike fossil energy industry, bioenergy industry extensively uses aqueous processes (such as hydrothermal liquefaction, anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis, fermentation, aqueous-phase reforming, and supercritical gasification) along with the traditional thermochemical processes used in the fossil energy industry. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book illustrates four important applications of water and steam to recover energy: nuclear reactor, geothermal sources, solar energy, and thermal energy generated from the combustion of various types of fuels. It outlines the use of steam to recover gaseous synthetic fuels of different compositions. The book evaluates various aspects of steam gasification and reforming technologies.
