Energy & Green Tech

Bio-what? Half of Danes don't know what biomass is

Nearly half of Danes have never heard of Denmark's largest source of renewable energy. The finding, reported in a study from the University of Copenhagen, is the first to explore Danish attitudes to woody biomass as an energy ...

Energy & Green Tech

Burning woody biomass in power plants could reduce carbon output

According to a new study by researchers in the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, replacing coal in Georgia's power plants with woody biomass could not only meet Georgia's power needs, ...

page 1 from 2

Biomass

Biomass, is a renewable energy source, biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity[1] or produce heat. For example, forest residues (such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps), yard clippings and wood chips may be used as biofuel. However, biomass also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers or chemicals. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material such as fossil fuel which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum.

Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plant, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material.

Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.

Plastics from biomass, like some recently developed to dissolve in seawater, are made the same way as petroleum-based plastics. These plastics are actually cheaper to manufacture and meet or exceed most performance standards, but they lack the same water resistance or longevity as conventional plastics.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA