Biomass

Biomass, in the energy production industry, refers to living and recently living biological material which can be used as fuel or for industrial production. Most commonly biomass refers to plant matter grown for use as biofuel, but also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibres, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum. It is usually measured by dry weight.

The term "biomass" is especially useful for plants, where some internal structures may not always be considered living tissue, such as the wood (secondary xylem) of a tree.

Biofuels include bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel & biogas.

Biomass is grown from several plants, including switchgrass, hemp, corn, willow and sugarcane[1]. The particular plant used is usually not very important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing.[citation needed]

Though biomass is a renewable fuel, it can still contribute to global warming. This happens when the natural carbon equilibrium is disturbed; for example by deforestation or urbanisation of green sites.

Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon from the atmosphere is converted into biological matter by photosynthesis. On decay or combustion the carbon goes back into the atmosphere. This happens over a relatively short timescale and plant matter used as a fuel can be constantly replaced by planting for new growth. Therefore a reasonably stable level of atmospheric carbon results from its use as a fuel.

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.

Other uses of biomass, besides fuel:

Building materials

Biodegradable plastics and paper (using cellulose fibres)

Contents [hide]

1 Biomass production

2 See also

3 External links

4 References

Biomass production

Biomass production for human use and consumption.

BIOME ECOSYSTEM TYPE Area Mean Net Primary Production World Primary Production Mean biomass World biomass Minimum replacement rate

(million km²) (gram dryC/sq metre/year) (billion tonnes/year) (kg dryC/sq metre) (billion tonnes) (years)

Tropical rain forest 17.0 2,200 37.40 45.00 765.00 20.45

Tropical monsoon forest 7.5 1,600 12.00 35.00 262.50 21.88

Temperate evergreen forest 5.0 1,320 6.60 35.00 175.00 26.52

Temperate deciduous forest 7.0 1,200 8.40 30.00 210.00 25.00

Boreal forest 12.0 800 9.60 20.00 240.00 25.00

Mediterranean open forest 2.8 750 2.10 18.00 50.40 24.00

Woodland and shrubland 5.7 700 3.99 6.00 34.20 8.57

Savanna 15.0 900 13.50 4.00 60.00 4.44

Temperate grassland 9.0 600 5.40 1.60 14.40 2.67

Tundra and alpine 8.0 140 1.12 0.60 4.80 4.29

Desert and semidesert scrub 18.0 90 1.62 0.70 12.60 7.78

Extreme desert, rock, sand or ice sheets 24.0 3 0.07 0.02 0.48 6.67

Cultivated land 14.0 650 9.10 1.00 14.00 1.54

Swamp and marsh 2.0 2,000 4.00 15.00 30.00 7.50

Lakes and streams 2.0 250 0.50 0.02 0.04 0.08

Total continental 149.00 774.51 115.40 12.57 1,873.42 16.23

Open ocean 332.00 125.00 41.50 0.003 1.00 0.02

Upwelling zones 0.40 500.00 0.20 0.020 0.01 0.04

Continental shelf 26.60 360.00 9.58 0.010 0.27 0.03

Algal beds and reefs 0.60 2,500.00 1.50 2.000 1.20 0.80

Estuaries & mangroves 1.40 1,500.00 2.10 1.000 1.40 0.67

Total marine 361.00 152.01 54.88 0.01 3.87 0.07

Grand total 510.00 333.87 170.28 3.68 1,877.29 11.02

Source: Whittaker, R. H.; Likens, G. E. (1975). “The Biosphere and Man”, Leith, H. & Whittaker, R. H.: Primary Productivity of the Biosphere. Springer-Verlag, 305-328. ISBN 0-3870-7083-4. ; Ecological Studies Vol 14 (Berlin) ISSN 0070-8356.

Related topics @ Wikipedia

Anaerobic digestion

Biofuel

Biomass gasification

Biomass to liquid

Energy crop

Thermal mass

External links

Everything Biomass

Michigan Biomass Energy Program

BioMASS Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

References

^ T.A. Volk, L.P. Abrahamson, E.H. White, E. Neuhauser, E. Gray, C. Demeter, C. Lindsey, J. Jarnefeld, D.J. Aneshansley, R. Pellerin and S. Edick (October 15-19, 2000). "Developing a Willow Biomass Crop Enterprise for Bioenergy and Bioproducts in the United States". Proceedings of Bioenergy 2000, Adam's Mark Hotel, Buffalo, New York, USA: North East Regional Biomass Program. OCLC 45275154. Retrieved on 2006-12-16.

Related Topics & Questions

Common Ethanol Fuel Mixtures

Vegetable Oil Used as Fuel

Renewable Natural Gas

Main Sections @ The Billion Dollar Site

Credits & Copyright: This page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the ||Wikipedia article Biomass||

Reference

GeoDig – Get Local!

Have you checked out the GeoDig directories for over 30 countries? GeoDig provides useful local and regional web resources for over 200 cities around the world. See the list of cities and countries for which GeoDig provides locality-specific web resources.

North America

USA - Alabama (AL) > Birmingham; Alaska; Arkansas (AR) > Little Rock; Arizona (AZ) > Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson; California (CA) > Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield; Colorado, CO > Denver; Connecticut, CT > Hartford; District of Columbia, DC > Washington DC; Delaware (DE) > Wilmington; Florida > Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville; Georgia > Atlanta; Hawaii > Honolulu; Idaho; Illinois > Chicago; Indiana > Indianapolis; Iowa; Kansas (KS); Kentucky (KY) > Louisville; Louisiana (LA) > New Orleans, Baton Rouge; Maine; Maryland (MD) > Baltimore; Massachusetts > Boston, Springfield; Michigan > Detroit, Grand Rapids; Minnesota > Minneapolis-St. Paul; Mississippi (MS); Missouri (MO) > Kansas City, St. Louis; Montana; Nebraska (NE) > Omaha; Nevada (NV) > Las Vegas; New Hampshire; New Jersey (NJ) > Jersey City, Newark; New Mexico (NM) > Albuquerque; New York > New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse; North Carolina (NC) > Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro; North Dakota; Ohio> Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton; Oklahoma (OK) > Oklahoma City, Tulsa; Oregon > Portland; Pennsylvania > Philadelphia, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, ; Rhode Island (RI) > Providence; South Carolina (SC) > Greenville; South Dakota; Tennessee (TN) > Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville; Texas > Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, McAllen; Utah (UT) > Salt Lake City; Vermont; Virginia (VA) > Norfolk, Richmond; Washington > Seattle; West Virginia; Wisconsin (WI) > Milwaukee; Wyoming

Canada - Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London

You are the Biofuels Section of Billion Dollar Questions

Europe - UK - London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester; France - Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Bordeaux; Germany - Frankfurt (Frankfurt am Main), Munich (München), Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne (Köln), Essen, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bremen, Duisburg, Hannover, Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Dresden, Leipzig; Italy - Milan (Milano), Rome (Roma), Napoli (Naples), Torino (Turin), Palermo, Bologna, Firenze (Florence), Genova (Genoa); Spain - Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, Las Palmas, Bilbao; Scandinavia - Finland - Helsinki (Helsingin), Espoo, Tampere (Tampereen), Vantaa, Turku, Oulu, Sweden - Stockholm, Goteborg (Göteborg), Malmo (Malmö), Uppsala, Vasteras (Västerås), Denmark - Copenhagen (Københavns), Aarhus (Århus), Odense, Aalborg (Ålborg), Norway - Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim; Benelux - Belgium - Brussels (Brussel), Antwerp (Antwerpen), Ghent (Gent, Gand), Charleroi, Liège (Liege), Netherlands - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Tilburg, ‘s-Gravenhage (sGravenhage), Groningen, Luxembourg - Luxembourg City; Portugal – Lisbon; Greece – Athens; Hungary – Budapest; Poland – Warsaw; Switzerland - Zürich (Zurich), Geneva (Geneve, Genève), Basel, Bern (Berne), Lausanne; Austria - Linz, Vienna (Wien), Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck; Ireland – Dublin

Asia - India - Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore; China & Hong Kong - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Harbin, Xian; Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kawasaki, Hiroshima; South Korea - Seoul, Pusa, Taegu, Incheon, Taejeon, Taiwan - Taipei; Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur; Singapore; Russia - Moscow, St Petersburg

You are the Biofuels Section of Billion Dollar Questions

Middle East - Turkey - Istanbul, Israel - Tel Aviv

Oceania - Australia - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide

Africa - South Africa - Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban

BillDoll.com – The Billion Dollar Site