What is Biomass?
Biomass energy is produced from wood, agricultural residues & wastes, and a range of organic wastes such as animal slurry and food wastes. Energy is produced using a variety of technologies and can take the form of heat, electricity and transport fuel.
The use of energy derived from biomass is likely to increase substantially over the coming years, as technology continues to develop and production costs fall. The production of bio fuels has already increased dramatically over the last few years, with thousands of hectares of land in Africa and Asia being used to establish fast growing crops which thrive in these dry climates.
Wood as a fuel.
Until a few hundred years ago, wood was the main source of fuel for heating in the UK. This was replaced with coal, oil and gas as our knowledge and ability to mine and harness these resources developed. Wood can be considered a source of renewable energy provided a few simple guidelines are followed:
- The wood should come from a sustainable source
- The wood should be burned in efficient appliances
- The wood should be used close to source
Providing these rules are followed, wood can be considered a renewable source of energy since the carbon dioxide given off when the wood is burned had been absorbed from the atmosphere when the trees were growing. Whilst other fossil fuels will be consumed during harvesting, processing and transportation, net CO2 emissions are likely to be reduced by over 90%.
There are no reasons why logs can not be used, but the most common forms of wood fuel are wood chips and wood pellets. In pricing terms, wood chips are already cheaper per kWh of delivered energy than natural gas and wood pellets are comparable. As manufacturing of pellets continues to expand, costs are expected to fall even further adding to the cost efficiency of these fuels. Wood chips are cheaper than pellets but burn quicker, so more storage space is required to provide sufficient energy reserves during winter.
Cheap sustainable fuels
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