Contrary to popular belief, sun and wind are not the only forms of renewable energy. Of the many other existing forms of renewable energy, biomass may be the most available and renewable. Biomass is the organic material produced by most living organisms. It is the material that does not go directly into foods or consumer products. As plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to provide animals and other organisms with needed oxygen and other materials biomass is also produced. When these plants are removed and utilized for providing energy, other plants can be planted ensuring that the cycle continues. Plants produce biomass in the form of leaves, roots, seeds, and stalk while animals produce biomass in the form of metabolic waste. Because of its renewability, biomass can be used as an excellent source of energy. A wide variety of biomass energy resources exists, including trees and grass crops and forestry, agricultural waste among others. As a result approximately 140 billion metric tons of biomass is produced annually and with an increase in attention to this alternative form of energy, there will be an increase in its production.
This form of energy is an environmentally friendly source of energy, even though it may cause plants to be removed from the environment, they can be replaced and cause a cycle to be formed. It is however best to use waste matter for this form of energy as it will be very economical. Unlike other energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas biomass can easily be replenished. Even though biomass may produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as fossil fuels, the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels was produced many years ago creating an imbalance since they have been out of the cycle for an extended time. On the other hand carbon dioxide produced from biomass is balanced by the carbon dioxide captured during its growth and was obtained more recently.
The major types of biomass are wood, crops, garbage, landfill gas and alcohol fuels such as ethanol. In order to generate energy from these sources, the material may either be burnt or converted to other forms of usable energy such as methane gas, biodiesel and ethanol. In order to convert biomass to a usable form it must undergo some processing. Some processes are quite expensive and rather technical while others are cheap and less technical. Among the expensive methods are pyrolysis, hydrogenation, acid hydrolysis and destructive distillation. Some of the cheaper methods are composting, anaerobic digestion and fermentation. No matter the method used, the fuel generated can be used for electricity production providing a valuable commodity for human consumption. Similar to other forms of alternative energies, biomass can reduce the dependence on fossil fuel since it is the only renewable liquid form of energy available. In addition, it does not contain any sulfur which contributes to acid rain and it saves space in landfills by re-using waste products.
