biomass+energy


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Biomass — Renewable Energy from Plants and Animals
Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals. Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis. The chemical energy in plants gets passed on to animals and people that eat them. Biomass is a renewable energy source because we can always grow more trees and crops, and waste will always exist. Some examples of biomass fuels are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage. When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. If you have a fireplace, the wood you burn in it is a biomass fuel. Wood waste or garbage can be burned to produce steam for making electricity, or to provide heat to industries and homes.

How Much Biomass Is Used for Fuel?
Biomass fuels provide about 4% of the energy used in the United States. Researchers are trying to develop ways to burn more biomass and less fossil fuels. Using biomass for energy may cut back on waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Converting Biomass to Other Forms of Energy
Burning biomass is not the only way to release its energy. Biomass can be converted to other useable forms of energy, such as methane gas or transportation fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel. Methane gas is the main ingredient of natural gas. Smelly stuff, like rotting garbage, and agricultural and human waste, release methane gas — also called "landfill gas" or "biogas." Crops like corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce ethanol. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, can be produced from left-over food products like vegetable oils and animal fats.

Burning Wood Is Nothing New
The most common form of biomass is wood. For thousands of years people have burned wood for heating and cooking. Wood was the main source of energy in the United States and the rest of the world until the mid-1800s. Wood continues to be a major source of energy in much of the developing world. In the United States, wood and wood waste (bark, sawdust, wood chips, and wood scrap) provide about 2% of the energy we use today.

Using Wood and Wood Waste
About 84% of the wood and wood waste fuel used in the United States is consumed by industry, electric power producers, and commercial businesses. The rest, mainly wood, is used in homes for heating and cooking. Many manufacturing plants in the wood and paper products industry use wood waste to produce their own steam and electricity. This saves these companies money because they don't have to dispose of their waste products and they don't have to buy as much electricity

Biomass & the Environment
Each Form of Biomass Has a Different Impact

Biomass pollutes the air when it is burned, but not as much as fossil fuels do. Burning biomass fuels does not produce pollutants such as sulfur that can cause acid rain. When burned, biomass releases [|carbon dioxide], a [|greenhouse gas]. But when biomass crops are grown, a nearly equivalent amount of carbon dioxide is captured through photosynthesis. Each of the different forms and uses of biomass impact the environment in a different way.

Burning Wood Because the smoke from burning wood contains pollutants like carbon monoxide and particulate matter, some areas of the country won't allow the use of wood-burning fireplaces or stoves on high pollution days. A special clean-burning technology can be added to wood-burning fireplaces and stoves so that they can be used even on days with the worst pollution.