Post 5 : Biomass Energy

Biomass Energy

1. Definition of biomass

      According to a website, biomass is "organic matter (such as wood, crops, and waste) that is used as a fuel souce."(#1) For instance, burning wood for cooking is a way to use biomass. Nowadays, there are many ways to take advantage of biomass, and these methods can be classified into three groups.  They are biofuel, biopower and bioproduct. I will give you each group an example in the third section of this article.

2. The advantage of using biomass energy

        We might be confused that why people call biomass as a kind of green energy while burning biomass (such as wood) dose cause the emission of carbon dioxide. In fact, we won't increase the amount of CO2 in the air by using biomass as a source of energy! You can get this idea from the picture below.





 

 

3. Example of applications of biomass

1. biofuel : "Right now, the most common biofuel is ethanol and most ethanol is made from corn grain or sugar cane. But ethanol also can be made from the cellulose, plant stalks, grass, poplar trees, willow trees, corn cobs, and other woody plant parts."(#2)

 

 

2. biopower : This video will explain how biopower is transfered into electricity.

 

 

3. bioproduct : "Bio logs consists of 100% coir Fiber webs cross lapped or air layed , followed by needle punching or stitch bonding. The substrate is rolled into desired dimensions. Bio logs promote plant growth and microbial activity." (#3)
 


 

 reference:

#1 http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com/energy/energy-dictionary/biomass-definition

#2 http://research.msu.edu/tags/biofuel-crops

#3 http://coir-onmattresses.com/bio-logs.html