How is biomass made

Biomass - Turning Waste Into Energy

Biomass. Even that simple word makes many people scratch their head and wonder what the heck it is. What so many don’t realize, is that this simple word is a source of energy that produces more power than solar and wind power combined.

Pictures of a man loading a DeLorean with “fuel” from the garbage, like banana peels, to make his time travel machine power up, seems crazy and far fetched. But, in a way, this is how biomass energy works.

It takes biomass, or plant material and animal waste, and through proper development, turns it into power.

So, where does biomass energy come from?

People have been using the main source since the caveman discovered fire. Wood is still the main supplier of biomass as well as grassy and woody plants, algae, animal waste and byproducts from harvested crops and forest residue, just to name a few. To date, the majority of biomass production helps support the agricultural and forest industries through the use of paper mill residue, scrap from lumber mills, corn grain and soybeans.



This is a renewable energy, which means that when you take it, in order to make it, it will continue to grow back or replenish. Like animal waste. As long as there are animals, they are going to make waste. This is a natural form of energy pretty much from beginning to end.

Biomass is basically stored solar energy that plants use, that we take and convert into energy we can use.

So, how is this biomass energy stored?

Plants take in the sun for use in photosynthesis. We take those plants and use the sun’s energy they have stored up in them. Biomass pretreatment takes all the various forms of material and makes them molecularly uniform so they can be used in the most efficient way. So waste and wood come out working together. This is basically done by heating it up with really hot water and then a really hot nitrogen process. It produces a product that looks like coal and is easy to use.

So we’re taking, in essence, garbage and turning it into energy. This is great for the planet. The actual process of transforming it to energy produces little pollution, making it even better. Greenhouse gases, such as methane from things cow waste, can be harnessed and used instead of effecting the atmosphere. There is so much good that comes from the use of biomass as a form of energy instead of oil and fossil fuels.

Lack of Federal investment was a hindrance in its development, keeping it in smaller markets through individual efforts. With the rise in the popularity, more Federal support has been given and great strides are being made in its growth. To date, biomass provides about 14% of global energy. With Sweden leading the way at 30% usage, the US has a way to go at only 4%.

What can be better than having a biomass powerplant right next to a landfill and helping the environment while producing cleaner more efficient energy? With the need growing and the cost of polluting, non-renewable resources rising, this cleaner, renewable resource should soon take over as the world’s major source of energy.