​Biomass International

Ways Biomass can be turned to fuel:

 

Direct combustion is the simplest and most common method of capturing the energy contained within biomass. Usually these facilities (boilers) produce steam to use either within an industrial process, or to produce electricity directly. They can also produce heat, which is then captured for one purpose or another. Direct combustion technology is very similar to that used for coal. Since biomass does not contain these dangerous elements, combusting it produces no dangerous emissions.

 

Gasification is another method to generate electricity from biomass. Instead of simply burning the fuel, gasification captures about 65-70% of the energy in solid fuel (as compared to 20-30% for traditional combustion) by converting it first into combustible gases. This gas is then burned, as if it were natural gas, to create electricity, fuel a vehicle, power industrial applications, or be converted to synthetic fuels.

 

Transportation of Biomass

 

Because the crop thats used for biomass energy is typically bulky and costly to transport, conversion facilities will likely be located where the crop is grown. This means local jobs. Economies will grow because of the development of a local industry to convert biomass to either electricity or transportation fuel. In addition, farmers will see their income rise thanks to the creation of new markets for their products – such as agricultural wastes and crops that can be grown on marginal land. Furthermore, increased investment in biomass conversion technologies can create high-skill, high-wage jobs for the producers of these technologies and the industry or utility that uses them