Answer:
Biomass’ is a fancy word for something very simple: stuff that’s found in nature. People have used biomass energy ever since the very first cave-dwelling person thought to make a fire out of wood!
Wood can be used in biomass energy production
Today, biomass power plants use everything from animal waste to wood pellets to create electricity. There are lots of advantages to biomass energy, which is a renewable energy source. But there’s also some debate about whether it’s the greenest type of energy around. Here at OVO, we chose to remove biomass from our fuel mix in 2017, in favour of cleaner energy sources: wind, solar, hydro and tidal energy.
Ready to learn more? Read on to find out everything you need to know about biomass and biofuels.
What is biomass energy?
Biomass is made up of living things (or things that were once living). This can include any plant or animal material, such as sugarcane or corn crops, wood chips, or even dung.
All these types of biomass contain energy, because they’re organic materials. So, whether they started life as plants or animals, they’ve all absorbed chemical energy naturally from the sun.
When they’re used as biomass, these materials are called ‘feedstocks’.Sources of biomass energy
How does biomass energy work? Biomass energy production explained
Biomass feedstocks can be used to create 3 types of energy:
Heat
Electricity
Biofuels, such as biodiesel
Some biomass plants are multi-taskers, creating both heat and electricity. These are known as CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants.
So, how do biomass plants create heat? Simple: by burning feedstocks, just like our ancestors have done for thousands of years.
Read on to find out how biomass energy production turns wood into electricity or diesel.
How can biomass generate electricity?
Biomass can generate electricity in a number of ways – but the most common is ‘direct combustion’. This means burning the agricultural waste or wood to heat water. This produces steam, which spins turbines.
In some biomass plants, the extra steam can also be used in on-site manufacturing processes, or for heating. This makes the whole process even more energy efficient. Smart, right?
There are many other ways to generate electricity using biomass. Some scientists are even exploring the possibility of using what we’ll politely call ‘human waste’ to power homes!
