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What is a biomass fuel?

Updated: 8/9/2023
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14y ago

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The catch-all term biomass includes all the living organisms in an area. Wood, crops and crop waste, and wastes of plant, mineral, and animal matter are part of the biomass. Much of it is in garbage, which can be burned for heat energy or allowed to decay and produce methane gas. However, some crops are grown specifically for energy, including sugar cane, sorghum, ocean kelp, water hyacinth, and various species of trees. It has been estimated that 90 percent of United States waste products could be burned to provide as much energy as 100 million tons of coal (20 percent will not burn, but can be recycled). Biomass energy accounted for less than five percent of total energy consumption in the United States. The use of biomass energy is significantly higher in developing countries where electricity and motor vehicles are scarcer. For example, in India nearly 55 percent of the energy supply is from biomass. In Western Europe, there are over 200 power plants that burn rubbish to produce electricity. France, Denmark, and Switzerland recover 50, 60, and 80 percent of their municipal waste respectively. Biomass can be converted into biofuels such as biogas or methane, methanol, ethanol, etc. However, the process has been more costly than the conventional fossil fuel processes. Rubbish buried in the ground can provide methane gas through anaerobic decomposition. One ton of refuse can produce 8,000 cubic feet (227 cubic meters) of methane.

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12y ago
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14y ago

It is made up of a combination of different Energy renewable sources.

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14y ago

Bio-mass energy is the energy stored in the bio-fuels produced by microbial actions.

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13y ago

Renewable it's made from excrete (dung)

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