Question

What is biomass and write few examples of biomass? Write the chemical composition of biomass. What role does biomass have to play in our energy supply?

Answer 1

Biomass
It is an organic material made from plants and animals material like wood, crops, manure, forest residues, leftover food crops, horticulture, human waste from sewage plants etc.

The main components ~
1) Cellulose is the main form of carbon in biomass approx having 40% to 55%
by weight. It is a complex sugar
polymer, made up of the six-carbon sugar, glucose.

2)Hemicellulose contributed around
20% and 40% by weight.

3) Lignin is a most complex polymer, provides structural integrity in plants. It is up to
10% to 24% by weight of biomass. It is a high source of energy and burned to
produce steam and electricity for biochemical biomass processing.

Industries use biomass to produce energy to a great extent like in furnace, generating steam and heating water, generating electricity. When we burn biomass in the presence of oxygen the chemical energy in biomass is converted into heat energy and releases as heat.
Solid biomass like wood and garbage, can be burned directly to produce heat. Biomass can also be converted into a gas called biogas or biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. These fuels can then be burned for energy.