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Biomass (energy)
In the context of energy production, biomass is matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms which is used for bioenergy production. Examples include wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues including straw, and organic waste from industry and households. Wood and wood residues is the largest biomass energy source today. Wood can be used as a fuel directly or processed into pellet fuel or other forms of fuels. Other plants can also be used as fuel, for instance maize, switchgrass, miscanthus and bamboo. The main waste feedstocks are wood waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, and manufacturing waste. Upgrading raw biomass to higher grade fuels can be achieved by different methods, broadly classified as thermal, chemical, or biochemical.
The climate impact of bioenergy varies considerably depending on where biomass feedstocks come from and how they are grown. For example, burning wood for energy releases carbon dioxide. Those emissions can be significantly offset if the trees that were harvested are replaced by new trees in a well-managed forest, as the new trees will remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. However, the farming of biomass feedstocks can reduce biodiversity, degrade soils and take land out of food production. It may also consume water for irrigation and fertilisers.
Biomass (in the context of energy generation) is matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms which is used for bioenergy production. There are variations in how such biomass for energy is defined, e.g. only from plants, or from plants and algae, or from plants and animals. The vast majority of biomass used for bioenergy does come from plants. Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy with potential to assist with climate change mitigation.
Some people use the terms biomass and biofuel interchangeably, but it is now more common to consider biofuel to be a liquid or gaseous fuel used for transportation, as defined by government authorities in the US and EU. From that perspective, biofuel is a subset of biomass.
The European Union's Joint Research Centre defines solid biofuel as raw or processed organic matter of biological origin used for energy, such as firewood, wood chips, and wood pellets.
Different types of biomass are used for different purposes:
Biomass is categorized either as biomass harvested directly for energy (primary biomass), or as residues and waste: (secondary biomass).
The main biomass types harvested directly for energy is wood, some food crops and all perennial energy crops. One third of the global forest area of 4 billion hectares is used for wood production or other commercial purposes, and forests provide 85% of all biomass used for energy globally. In the EU, forests provide 60% of all biomass used for energy, with wood residues and waste being the largest source.
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Biomass (energy)
In the context of energy production, biomass is matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms which is used for bioenergy production. Examples include wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues including straw, and organic waste from industry and households. Wood and wood residues is the largest biomass energy source today. Wood can be used as a fuel directly or processed into pellet fuel or other forms of fuels. Other plants can also be used as fuel, for instance maize, switchgrass, miscanthus and bamboo. The main waste feedstocks are wood waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, and manufacturing waste. Upgrading raw biomass to higher grade fuels can be achieved by different methods, broadly classified as thermal, chemical, or biochemical.
The climate impact of bioenergy varies considerably depending on where biomass feedstocks come from and how they are grown. For example, burning wood for energy releases carbon dioxide. Those emissions can be significantly offset if the trees that were harvested are replaced by new trees in a well-managed forest, as the new trees will remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. However, the farming of biomass feedstocks can reduce biodiversity, degrade soils and take land out of food production. It may also consume water for irrigation and fertilisers.
Biomass (in the context of energy generation) is matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms which is used for bioenergy production. There are variations in how such biomass for energy is defined, e.g. only from plants, or from plants and algae, or from plants and animals. The vast majority of biomass used for bioenergy does come from plants. Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy with potential to assist with climate change mitigation.
Some people use the terms biomass and biofuel interchangeably, but it is now more common to consider biofuel to be a liquid or gaseous fuel used for transportation, as defined by government authorities in the US and EU. From that perspective, biofuel is a subset of biomass.
The European Union's Joint Research Centre defines solid biofuel as raw or processed organic matter of biological origin used for energy, such as firewood, wood chips, and wood pellets.
Different types of biomass are used for different purposes:
Biomass is categorized either as biomass harvested directly for energy (primary biomass), or as residues and waste: (secondary biomass).
The main biomass types harvested directly for energy is wood, some food crops and all perennial energy crops. One third of the global forest area of 4 billion hectares is used for wood production or other commercial purposes, and forests provide 85% of all biomass used for energy globally. In the EU, forests provide 60% of all biomass used for energy, with wood residues and waste being the largest source.
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