Biomass is Organic matter available on a renewable basis. Biomass includes forest and mill residues, agricultural crops and wastes, wood and wood wastes, animal wastes, livestock operation residues, aquatic plants, fast-growing trees and plants, and municipal and industrial wastes.

Now that you know exactly what biomass is, we’ll explain some different biomass techniques that’s been used for centuries and tell you the usefulness of biomass compared to other solutions and its shortcomings.

Benefits of using Biomass

Biomass can be used for power production, fuels, and products that would otherwise be made from fossil fuels. In such cases, biomass can provide a plethora of benefits. Some examples include the use of biomass energy has the ability to greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide captured by the photosynthesis millions of years ago, an essentially new greenhouse gas. But because burning biomass releases about the same amount of carbon dioxide as burning fossil fuels, except without the “new gas” from millions of years ago. Biomass also releases carbon dioxide that is largely balanced by the carbon dioxide captured in its own growth. Depending on how much fuel was used to grow, harvest, produce and process the crop.

The use of biomass can reduce dependence on foreigh oil because biofuels are the only renewable liquid transportation fuels available.

Biomass energy supports United States agricultural and forest product industries. Paper mill residue, lumber mill scrap, and municipal waste are the main biomass feedstocks for power. For biomass fuels, the feedstocks are corn for ethanol, and soybeans for biodiesel, both surplus
crops. With newly developed technology and agricultural residues such as corn stover,(thats the stalks, leaves and husks of the plant incase you were wondering) and wheat straw will also be used.

If we can produce fast growing crops for these fuels, that do not require more energy to produce then the fuel would make, these crops will one day be a major investment as well as our future of a reliable alternative fuel source. As the technology advances toward these goals, biomass will become a major source of our fuel.

Drawbacks to Biomass

One of the major drawbacks of biomass is the amount of fuel you get, compared to the amount of fuel it takes to make. By the time the fuel is made, it will have consumed nearly if not more energy to make, then what it will produce. Another problem with biomass is the availability of resources to feed it.The geography of certain regions, and particular countries will ultimately dictate what can be produced and used as biomass. If the country can not obtain the biomass, then this form of renewable energy is a non-issue

Another problem that can develop is the overuse of biomass fuels. Some countries rely upon wood for their energy needs for so long that the countries are becoming over 90% deforested. This not only means that they have no source of fuel left, but the environmental effects of the deforestation, such as erosion, animal migration or extinction will cause more problems for a already struggling nation.

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