Biomass
hideBiomass, is a renewable energy source, biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity[1] or produce heat. For example, forest residues (such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps), yard clippings and wood chips may be used as biofuel. However, biomass also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers or chemicals. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material such as fossil fuel which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum.
Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plant, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material.
Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.
Plastics from biomass, like some recently developed to dissolve in seawater, are made the same way as petroleum-based plastics. These plastics are actually cheaper to manufacture and meet or exceed most performance standards, but they lack the same water resistance or longevity as conventional plastics.
For more information about Biomass, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with biomass
Microbes to Take Over Ethanol Production?
Nov 20, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (6) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Not too long ago, it seemed that ethanol production was the wave of the future. The use of trash, wood chips or different types of plants -- usually grass or corn -- to make ethanol was considered ...
Flax and yellow flowers can produce bioethanol
Nov 20, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
Surplus biomass from the production of flax shives, and generated from Brassica carinata, a yellow-flowered plant related to those which engulf fields in spring, can be used to produce bioethanol. This has be ...
Like humans, ants use bacteria to make their gardens grow
Nov 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Leaf-cutter ants, which cultivate fungus for food, have many remarkable qualities.
Improved adhesive for products like transparent tape could benefit biofuels economy
Oct 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
An adhesive used in products like laminate countertops may also help cement a place for economically viable biofuels, according to a Kansas State University researcher.
Aircraft emissions could influence climate change through cloud formation
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 28, 2009 |
2.6 / 5 (8) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- Aircraft emissions can affect the properties of cirrus clouds, contributing to climate change. This was a key finding from PNNL scientist Dr. Xiaohong Liu and his colleagues from a recent ...
Perennial energy crops could be good for carbon savings and for wildlife
Sep 16, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Growing the energy crops short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and miscanthus grass could help the UK to reduce carbon emissions and benefit wildlife, according to researchers from the UK Research Councils’ ...
UGA licenses technology to make fuel from dead forests and agricultural waste
Sep 15, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
An innovative process for turning waste biomass - such as dead trees, agricultural waste and lumber byproducts - into a liquid fuel to power conventional engines has been licensed by the University of Georgia Research Foundation, ...
Scientists to study plant 'switchboards'
Sep 03, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
A new four-year, $3.72 million grant to North Carolina State University will allow researchers to shed light on an important mystery - how genes impact the type and amount of "glue," known as lignin, produced in trees. Understanding ...
ESA investigates new methods of mapping tropical forest from space
Aug 21, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Tropical rainforests play a crucial role in Earth's carbon cycle by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in biomass. However, mapping these carbon stocks from space poses a huge technical challenge. ...
Cleaning Up Black Carbon Provides Instant Benefits Against Global Warming
Aug 20, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (11) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- The world could buy time to forestall disastrous environmental and geopolitical climate change effects by using existing technologies to curb emissions created through diesel and solid biomass ...
Washington forests may be solution to state's green-energy quest
Aug 20, 2009 |
1.6 / 5 (5) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- Wood is a popular fuel for heating homes in the Northwest but few people might see it as an important source of liquid fuels for motor vehicles. However, a new University of Washington report ...
Researcher Nets First Measure of Africa's Coastal Forests
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 20, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Impoverished fishermen along the coast of tropical African countries like Mozambique and Madagascar may have only a few more years to eke out a profit from one of their nations' biggest agricultural exports. ...
Researchers Develop New Geobacter Microbe Strain to Produce More Electricity, Open New Applications
Jul 28, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- In their most recent experiments with Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe whose hairlike filaments help it to produce electric current from mud and wastewater, Derek Lovley and colleagues at the ...
US energy use drops in 2008
Jul 20, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (17) |
7
Americans used more solar, nuclear, biomass and wind energy in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The nation used less coal ...
New technique can fast-track better ionic liquids for biomass pre-treatments
Jul 10, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
3
They've been dubbed "grassoline" - second generation biofuels made from inedible plant material, including fast-growing weeds, agricultural waste, sawdust, etc. - and numerous scientific studies have shown ...
