What is Biomass?
Biomass sources include food crop by-product residues, grassy and woody plants, residues from agriculture or forestry, organic components of municipal and industrial wastes and animal waste such as cow manure and chicken litter. Fundamentally, biomass is stored solar energy that can be converted to electricity or fuel.
History of Biomass:
Prior to the industrial revolution, biomass satisfied nearly all of man's energy demands. Up until the 1860's the United States used biomass, in the form of wood, for nearly 91% of all energy consumption. In 1992 biomass generated $1.8 billion in personal and corporate income and employed 66,000 workers. Although presently the majority of mankind's energy requirements are fulfilled by fossil fuel combustion, 14% of the world still utilizes biomass.
Why Biomass?
Biomass is an attractive energy source for a number of reasons. First, Biomass is a renewable energy source. Biomass is also more evenly distributed over the earth's surface than fossil fuel energy sources, and may be harnessed using more cost effective technologies. Biomass provides us the opportunity to be more energy self-sufficient. It helps to reduce climate change (global warming). It also helps farmers & ranchers augment their incomes and provides rural job opportunities.
Using biomass to create energy has positive environmental implications. Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas. Plants collect and store carbon dioxide to aid in the photosynthesis process. As plants or other matter decompose, or natural fires occur, CO2 is released.
Before the use of fossil fuels, the carbon dioxide cycle was stable; the same amount that was released was sequestered, but this balance has since been disrupted. In the past 150 years, the period since the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen from around 150 ppm to 330 ppm, and are expected to double before 2050!
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