Biomass

This chapter presents some general discussion of biomass, and concentrates on its use for the production of electricity and heat. It then turns to a discussion of biofuels, which are of growing importance in transportation. Different technologies can be used to produce electricity from biomass: direct combustion, cofiring, gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion. Since the energy density of biomass is three times smaller than that of oil, fuel storage, transport, and pretreatment are usually an important part of the cost of electricity production. Biomass has been an important resource in the past, and it will also be an important one in the future. While it is useful in producing heat or electricity, this is generally not the best use of biomass unless it is done using residues that cannot be used in better applications. Organic waste is also a useful biomass for energy production.