Related topics: energy
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
Researcher studying ways to handle huge quantities of biomass
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As scientists scramble to develop ways to generate enormous amounts of energy from cleaner-burning, renewable fuels to replace coal and oil, promising agricultural crops such as switchgrass ...
Canna can: Ornamental eliminates pollutants from stormwater runoff
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Rapid population growth and urbanization have raised concerns over stormwater runoff contamination. Studies on watersheds indicate that excess nutrients, specifically nitrate-nitrogen and soluble reactive ...
NREL Breaks Down Walls for Biofuels
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and ethanol producers are racing to come up with ways to make ethanol from cellulosic biomass that are cheaper and easier to ...
Switchgrass produces biomass efficiently
Nov 23, 2009 |
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A USDOE and USDA study concluded that 50 million U.S. acres of cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture could be converted from current uses to the production of perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, from which biomass ...
Microbes to Take Over Ethanol Production?
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(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 |
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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 |
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(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 |
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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 |
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(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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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(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 |
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(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 ...
