Biomass Energy
What is Biomass?
Biomass is the name given to all living material – wood,
straw, waste food, animal manure and plants are all examples
of biomass. Biomass contains stored energy from the sun
and when it is burned it releases heat – just like
wood logs in an open fire. Wood is a fuel that has been
used for centuries to cook and produce heat. One of the
most used biomass resources is wood and it is becoming
more popular in Northern Ireland to provide heat for homes,
schools and businesses.
Plants absorb the sun’s energy in a process called
photosynthesis. The energy in plants then gets passed on
to animals and people that eat them or used as a fuel to
provide heat when they are burned.
Some farmers in Northern Ireland are starting to grow
special crops called willow which grows quickly in two
years and can then be made into a fuel to burn. Using farming
land to grow fuels is a very good idea and will help farmers
to earn money in a different way as well as providing fuels
which are grown locally in Northern Ireland.
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| Wood Pellets |
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A Willow tree field |
How does biomass work?
When biomass is burned the energy is released as heat.
If you have a fireplace at home, the wood you burn in
it is a form of biomass. In our homes we can use wood
biomass to provide all of our heating and hot water by
using a specially made boiler or we can use it to provide
heat for a single room using a biomass stove. Biomass
boilers and stoves are becoming very popular in Northern
Ireland as a way of providing heat because people are
starting to realise that other fuels called fossil fuels
like coal, oil and gas are running out.
In these modern boilers, biomass can be used in different
forms:
Advantages of Biomass
- Biomass does not run out as it is
made from living material and does not use up limited
resources such as coal
- It does not rely on the weather,
so it is available to provide energy all the time
- Biomass is flexible and can be used in many different
forms as you can have biomass logs, biomass pellets or
biomass chips.
- Wood pellets are convenient and controllable – You
can choose how much you want to use and how often.
- Using wood as a fuel can often mean that what would
have been ‘waste’ can be turned into a useful
fuel.
- Locally produced biomass can help the local economy with
jobs and incomes.
Possible disadvantages of Biomass
- Waste materials have
to be collected, which can be costly
- Burning fuels (e.g. wood chips and rubbish) does cause
some air pollution.
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| This picture shows a Wood Pellet
Stove which can provide heat for a single room |
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This picture shows a Biomass boiler which can be
used to provide heating and hot water for a whole house |
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