Biomass

What is Biomass?

Biomass is all plant and animal matter such as trees, waste products, animal by-products and cultivated short rotation crops, representing a massive quantity of renewable energy. Biomass can be combusted to provide heat then subsequently converted into other forms of energy.

It is estimated that biomass production is about 8 times the total annual world consumption of energy from all sources. At present the world population uses only about 7% of the estimated annual production of biomass.

Why the need to reduce CO2?

The fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - that we are burning today and that contribute to global warming, were made from plant and animal matter several million years ago.

These organisms absorbed the carbon dioxide in their own time period and locked it away. By burning those fossil fuels, we are releasing that carbon dioxide into our time period along with the carbon dioxide we already have with us.

To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, it is important that we burn fuel that is formed in our time.

As an example, the average four bedroomed house in Great Britain using natural gas gives off five tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum to meet its heat requirements.

A modern biomass/wood chip combuster will not add to the carbon dioxide levels, will produce no soot and the ash, which is less than about 1%, is a valuable source of fertiliser for growing plants.

In the United Kingdom every year, we import thousands of tonnes of coal, oil and gas. At the smae time we bury thousands of tonnes of clean wood in the ground and leave thousands of tonnes of low value timber on the forest floor.

The scheme to heat buildings with biomass / wood heat means that we are able to reduce the importation of fossil fuels and decrease the amount of perfectly good biomass / wood that we waste whilst at the same time, making the best use of our forests and woodlands, and regenerate our agricultural economy.

Legislative Factors

Global warming is finally forcing governments to act to reduce emissions of green house gases from the burning of fossil fuels. The UK government has introduced the Climate Change Levy which is effectively a tax on burning of fossil fuels. It is further seeking to reduce emissions through the intoduction of Emission Trading Schemes.

Energy is an area of growing concern to the government, and we have seen already the imposition of the Climate Change Levy upon fossil fuel consumption.

In addition, the government has introduced a voluntary carbon trading scheme which allows companies to trade in "carbon credits" if they achieve emission reduction targets. If they don't, then the company has an escape route of buying credits from other companies that have surplus credits.

However, biomass/wood thermal energy is a renewable resource with zero carbon emissions and is not subject to the Climate Change Levy.

Companies in the near future will be forced to adopt energy policies that take account of emerging legislation, amd biomass / wood thermal energy is an excellent, practical solution.