Biomass as a renewable energy source,is biological material derived from living, or recently
living organismssuch as wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter
grown to generate electricity or produce heat. For example, forest residues (such as dead
trees, branches and tree stumps), yard clippings and wood chips may be used as biomass.
Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. biomass can be
grown from numerous types of plant, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar,
willow, sorghum, sugarcane[2], and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil
palm (palm oil). Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy like methane gas
or transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. There are a number of technological option
available to make use of a wide variety of biomass types as a renewable energy source。

Conversion technologies may release the energy directly, in the form of heat or electricity,
convert it to another form, such as liquid biofuel or combustible biogas.These are processes
in which heat is the dominant mechanism to convert the biomass into another chemical form.
The basic alternatives are separated principally by the extent to which the chemical reactions
involved are allowed to proceed:Combustion,Torrefaction, Pyrolysis,Gasification.A range of
chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into other forms, such as to produce a
fuel that is more conveniently used, transported or stored, or to exploit some property of the
process itself.As biomass is a natural material, many highly efficient biochemical processes
have developedin nature to break down the molecules of which biomass is composed, and
many of these biochemical conversion processes can be harnessed

The existing commercial biomass power generating industry in the United States, which
consists of approximately 1,700 MW (megawatts) of operating capacity actively supplying
power to the grid, produces about 0.5 percent of the U.S. electricity supply.
the largest biomass power plant in North America.Currently,The 140 MW facility uses sugar
cane fiber (bagasse) and recycled urban wood as fuel to generate enough power for its
large milling and refining operations as well as to supply renewable electricity for nearly
60,000 homes. The facility reduces dependence on oil by more than one million barrels
per year, and by recycling sugar cane and wood waste, preserves landfill space in urban
communities in Florida.The amount of biomass available is usually not as great as stated
in the example above. Many times,especially in Europe where large agricultural developments
are not usual, the cost for transporting the biomass overcomes its actual value and therefore
the gathering ground has to be limited to a certain small area.To make an economic operation
possible those power plants have to be equipped with the ORC

Biomass is matter usually thought of as garbage. Some of it is just stuff lying around -- dead trees,
tree branches, yard clippings, left-over crops, wood chips (like in the picture to the right), and bark
and sawdust from lumber mills. It can even include used tires and livestock manure. This stuff nobody
seems to want can be used to produce electricity, heat, compost material or fuels. Composting material
is decayed plant or food products mixed together in a compost pile and spread to help plants grow.
California produces more than 60 million bone dry tons of biomass each year. Of this total, five million
bone dry tons is now burned to make electricity.If all of it was used, the 60 million tons of biomass in
California could make close to 2,000 megawatts of electricity for California's growing population and
economy. That's enough energy to make electricity for about two million homes!
How biomass works is very simple. The waste wood, tree branches and other scraps are gathered
together in big trucks. The trucks bring the waste from factories and from farms to a biomass power
plant. Here the biomass is dumped into huge hoppers. This is then fed into a furnace where it is burned.
The heat is used to boil water in the boiler, and the energy in the steam is used to turn turbines and
generatorsUsing biomass can help reduce global warming compared to a fossil fuel-powered plant.
Plants use and store carbon dioxide (CO2) when they grow. CO2 stored in the plant is released when
the plant material is burned or decays. By replanting the crops, the new plants can use the CO2 produced
by the burned plants. So using biomass and replanting helps close the carbon dioxide cycle. However, if the crops are not replanted, then biomass can emit carbon dioxide that will contribute toward global warming.
So, the use of biomass can be environmentally friendly because the biomass is reduced, recycled and
then reused. It is also a renewable resource because plants to make biomass can be grown over and over.