Production Methods
Biomass arises in many forms and can be converted readily into solid, liquid, or gaseous fuels and products. Most commonly, wood is chopped into chunks or chipped for ease of handling or even pelletised so that it can be bagged and stored. Biomass can also be pyrolysed or gasified in specific ways to give liquids or fuel gases. All forms of biomass can in turn be burned to raise heat, such as hot water or steam, or to produce electricity or both in a combined heat and power facility (Atchison and Montgomery 1986, Kaminsky 2004). Some biomass is far too wet to be burned successfully and so biological fermentation processes are used. Using containers that exclude air, biomass is digested to produce a methane rich gas called biogas or fermented to produce alcohols or other specialised chemicals. There is increasing interest in using biofuels for transport and the number of alcohol or biodiesel-fueled vehicles around the world is growing (Chum and Power 1992, Hakkila 1989).
Many believe that hydrogen used in fuel cells will be the ultimate clean method of transport since using this fuel produces virtually nothing more than water vapor (Babu 2002, Chornet et al. 1996). Biomass may have a key role to play in the long-term future through producing hydrogen directly by biological processing or through providing sustainable energy for other methods of production such as electrolysis. This section briefly covers the conversion and production processes for obtaining bio-based products and energy.
Encyclopedia ID: p1185
