BIOMASS

RENEWABLE, LOW-CARBON ENERGY SOURCE THAT CREATES VALUE FROM WASTE

Burning organic material for heat and power is a low carbon and renewable source of fuel that can create new markets for waste products.

Turning forestry, agricultural and municipal waste into heat and power

Biomass is organic material that comes from plant or animal matter that can be burned directly to produce heat and/or electricity or converted to produce liquid fuels (such as ethanol and renewable diesel fuel).

Forestry, agricultural and municipal residues are converted into heat and power by combusting the fuel using a thermal conversion technology. For example, solid biomass, such as wood and garbage can be burned directly to produce heat.

Benefits

COST EFFECTIVE

Biomass is cheaper to produce than fossil fuels, since it doesn’t require capital intensive drilling, and shipping.

LOW CARBON

When burning the biomass fuel, it releases the same amount of carbon into the atmosphere as was absorbed by the plant used during its life.

WASTE TO PROFIT

Biomass can divert waste from landfills and create value and profits from what was otherwise waste

Considerations

ENSURING A SUSTAINABLE AND LOW CARBON FUEL SOURCE

In order for biomass to be considered sustainable, it must be sourced from sustainably managed lands. For wood fuels, sourcing from forests certified by entities such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) can ensure bioenergy production is not encouraging unsustainable forest practices. Although the CO2 emissions from biomass combustion are not counted towards greenhouse gas inventories, a full life cycle assessment of biomass fuels is recommended to ensure GHG emissions from the supply chain are minimized.

HEAT ONLY FOR SMALL PROJECTS

Co-generation of electricity can be high cost at smaller projects. Heat-only projects are recommended for any projects smaller than 5 MWt (remote communities are an exception).