Biomass Defined  Biomass is wood, plants, animal mass and other substances that have recently been alive. They are burned directly for heat or power or converted into biofuels.  Biofuels are the combustion of processed materials like straw, forestry waste and wood chips which are used directly to produce electricity. They are very clean and efficient and come in solid liquid and gaseous forms  Use of Biomass offers the potential to greatly reduce greenhouse emissions. However, it must be grown and used in a sustainable way to achieve this end.

Kinds of Biomass- traditional  Trees- Wood has been used as a source of energy throughout human history and today the most commonly used form or biomass. Today there are still many people in third world countries using it to provide heat and energy. There are also ‘ purpose grown ’ tree farms which are specifically grown to produce wood for energy in larger developed countries.

More traditional Biomass types  Straw is used similarly too wood, it is burned and used to make heat and energy  Animal Dung- Poop is often used as a source of heat and energy

Non-traditional Biomass  Municipal Waste- Ben Garber is one example. Waste to energy plants turn human waste into energy-used for heat and energy production.

More non-traditional Biomass  Landfill gas- The gas emitted from landfills is very rich in methane, it is collected and used to generate power in small scale power plants.

Gasohol  Ethanol Alcohol generated by fermenting sugar cane or corn is combined with gas and used to power cars … mmm … tasty gasohol.

Biomass History  Biomass was far and away the most commonly used form of energy until the 20 th century. Wood was the most widely used form of energy before the discovery of oil and the invention of the automobile. Starting in the 1920 ’ s gas began to challenge gas as the world energy source because of its incredibly high efficiency ratio. By the 1970s oil became the most widely used source of energy.

Biomass history continued  Biomass usually makes up the majority of a renewable energy in most countries.  Biomass in Britain(82.2%) Denmark(77.4%) U.S. (72.3%)-However, renewable energy only makes up between 1-4% of the energy in these countries.  In India for instance 50% of the country ’ s energy comes from biofuel, wood, and animal/crop waste.

Biomass use Worldwide  Currently, biomass supplies 14% of the worlds energy requirements.  More than two million people worldwide use biomass for the majority of their household energy needs.  Of all the worlds renewable energy supplies used, 57% of it comes from traditional biomass and 9.5% from new biomass. The rest comes from solar, tidal, wind, etc.  On average, one third of the total primary energy in developing countries comes from biomass (usually traditional)  Total primary energy from biomass can be up to 90% in some of the poorest countries such, as Ethiopia and Nepal.

Progress in Bioenergy  Potentially, biomass could meet 50% of the worlds energy needs in the next century while reducing carbon emissions if the systems are managed effectively and sustainably.  Brazil has 3 million ha of eucalyptus planted as an energy crop used for making charcoal.  China has a plantation program aimed at 13.5 million ha of fuelwood by the year  Twenty percent of China, Sweden, and Finland ’ s primary energy comes from biomass.  Sweden presently has 16,000 ha of willow and has the first integrated gasification combined cycles system in the world.

Biomass in the U.S.  In the U.S., only 4% of the total electricity generation comes from biomass, which is about 6 GW.  Most of the fuel for biomass fired plants comes from forest residues, also from municipal solid wastes, agricultural residues, and some from wood pellets.

Vermont and Biomass  There is biomass district heating in Montpelier at the Capitol Complex and in Waterbury at the state offices.  Montpelier is also working on plans for a community wide district energy system.  Thirty three Vermont schools heat with clean efficient wood chip systems.

Vermont  There are currently about 4 farms in Vermont that use cow manure digesters to power their farms.  The Vermont Methane Project is aiming at producing digesters for processing daily manure at 15 prospective farms throughout Vermont.  Evermont is a company started by Howard Dean which promotes cleaner more energy sustainable vehicles; they manage 18 alternatively fueled vehicles (Electric, hybrid-electric, natural gas).

McNeil Plant in Burlington  McNeil supplies 40% of Burlington ’ s electricity with the potential for 50 MW/yr on full load.  It is one of the largest wood burning power plants in New England.  The plant uses a conventional boiler and a turbine generator.

McNeil Plant  The plant runs on wood as its primary fuel, using mostly whole tree chips, harvest residues, urban wood waste, and mill residues  The plant also uses gas to run it more efficiently,  It consumes about 76 tons of wood per hour and 555,000 cubic feet of gas per hour.  The plants efficiency is about 15% when using wood and gas, but slightly less with just wood.

Vermont Gasification Project  In 1999, McNeil hosted the Vermont Gasification Project which was the first demonstration of a biomass gasifier in the world.  Basically, a gasifier heats wood chips at about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit in hot sand until it forms a gas, which is trapped and used as fuel.  The gasification system is only used for demonstrations at the McNeil plant.