Biomass: Energy from living matterSonia Biring

What Is Biomass?• Biomass is anything that is

or has once been alive basically energy from living matter.▫ It is energy derived

from once-living, plant or animal matter.

▫ E.g. Wood, peat, grain waste, and dung (poop)

Wood Waste & Beehive Burners• Most biomass is usually

wood.• When burned the chemical

energy is released as heat.

• Saw mills and pulp mills used to burn large amounts of wood waste in beehive burners did not convert any of it to usable power.

• BC government made new laws where wood wastes and beehive burners could be burned to make energy with less emissions.

Incinerators • Incinerators

▫ turn garbage into steam which is then sold to nearby paper recycling facilities to replace the use of fossil fuels that harm the environment

• Waste-to-energy facilities burn modern garbage that normally would end up in landfills. ▫ Incinerators not only

create energy but they reduce the garbage volume by 90%.

Methane Gas• Methane gas is created

from rotting garbage at landfills. ▫ It is a serious greenhouse

gas which recently was burned off and rose from landfill through pipes which were inserted into the rotting garbage.

• Now days, this gas is being used in many landfills as a source of energy to create heat or electricity.

• Biomass is a renewable energy source which plays a small role in deducting our overall dependence on fossil fuels. ▫ It can reduce a great

amount of garbage that we all have to deal with.

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