Biomass
Biomass is organic material such as wood, crops and animal wastes that can be used as fuel in either raw or processed form.
For example:
- Fast growing trees and grasses like Willow and Miscanthus i.e. energy crops
- Agricultural residues such as cereal straw or used vegetable oils
- Wood 'waste' such as sawdust and tree prunings
- Municipal waste
Energy derived from these sources is described as Biomass energy and is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels. Biomass energy can be used to generate electricity and heat and also for the production of liquid transport fuels such as Bioethanol, a petrol additive or substitute and Biodiesel, a diesel substitute. A variety of technologies are used to convert Biomass into useful energy. These include anaerobic digestion, gasification of wood and combustion.
People used Biomass as their main energy
source, in the form of wood fuels and crops grown as feed i.e. fuel for horses,
etc, up to the time of the industrial revolution. This was powered by fossil
fuels, initially coal. Since then coal, oil and gas have become the world's
predominant fuels. Biomass in the form of wood fuel, animal manure and other
wastes currently accounts for approximately 14% of the world's total energy
demand.
It has been estimated that, globally, 76% of
the 1990 world primary energy demand could be sustainably generated from
dedicated Biomass resources. In the UK it has been estimated that up to 60% of
the country's primary energy production could come from Biomass. The current
target is 2% and to help achieve this Defra have estimated that 125,000ha of
energy crops would be required.