The term “biomass” isn’t too familiar to most consumers. It’s sort of a green-world buzzword. But energy produced from various biomass sources will be increasingly important in coming years. The U.S Department of Energy says says that biomass “includes all plant and plant-derived material — essentially all energy originally captured by photosynthesis.”
Firewood obviously fits the biomass definition. So does the compressed sawdust used to make fuel for pellet stoves. So, eventually, will the byproducts of ethanol production, soy oil production, and so on. Remember the “stems and seeds that you don’t need?” Well, now we need ‘em.
For a good overview of biomass, see the EERE website on Biomass Basics.
~ Doug Logan, New Energy Watch
Heating with wood is easier than you think. The only upside to all of this commercial and residential development is all of the good hardwood that ends up at landfills. We even have landscape types and lot clearers dropping hardwood in our yard to save dump costs. Wood is everywhere. Make a connection. And it smells nice.
Posted by: | 24 November 2006 at 05:10 PM