Biomass CHP

Various biomass energy technologies

Thermal treatment processes such as combustion, gasification and pyrolysis can be used to harness the energy stored in biomass. The energy released is often in the form of heat, fuel gases and liquid fuels.

On a larger scale, biomass such as energy crops, fuelwood, forestry residues, and bagasse, can be combusted in furnaces and boilers to produce hot water for process heating, or steam either for direct use in industrial processes or for driving steam-turbines for electricity generation or both (which is called the biomass combined heat and power (CHP) systems). Biomass CHP systems are discussed in this section.

Biomass can also be converted into fuel gases or liquid fuels by biological processes such as fermentation and anaerobic digestion. Ethanol is the final product of fermentation of certain biomass materials that contain sugars, starch or cellulose. Ethanol can be used as an automotive fuel to supplement or substitute petrol in internal combustion engines. This subject of This link will open in a new windowbiofuel is treated in another section of this website. Municipal organic wastes can be used to generate biogas. The subject of This link will open in a new windowwaste-to-energy is also treated in another section of this website. Furthermore, biomass can be digested under anaerobic conditions to generate methane which can be used for power generation.