index > Today's Earth, Our Future > 5. Clean energy > Biomass Energy Holds Great Promise

Biomass Energy Holds Great Promise

Have you ever heard of biomass? Biomass is plant and animal waste matter that can be used as fuel. Because this is a renewable energy source, it has been receiving a lot of attention recently. Biomass roughly falls into three types: wood, non-wood plants, and waste of livestock such as cattle, pigs and chickens.

Wood can be used as fuel for thermal power generation by burning it directly or by steaming it to change it into a form of gas. Also, wood can be made into charcoal and used as heat energy. In Japan, people are trying to use the trees that are cut down during forest maintenance (the practice is called "forest thinning") as biomass energy. If this attempt works well, it will help cut energy costs and people will get money to take care of the forests.

Several European countries are taking the lead in the use of biomass. In these countries, people are actively planting fast-growing trees, such as willow trees. As the trees grow, the branches are cut and used as a source of energy. Crops which are grown specifically for fuel are called "energy crops."

Wood can be ground into a powder and compressed into small solid pieces to make a fuel called "wood pellets." This fuel can be used for various purposes, ranging from household wood-burning stoves to large-scale power plants. In Sweden, wood pellets are available at gas stations along with kerosene. Also, since pellets can be made from waste wood and bark, wood pellets help solve not only energy problems but also waste problems.

An example of "non-wood plant" biomass is colza (rapeseed). Pressed colza oil can be used instead of gasoline. We can also make car fuel from sugarcane and corn. We can generate electricity by burning "vegetative waste, " such as chaff, corn cobs, straw, orange peels, and sugarcane residue.

In Japan, there is a place called Yagi Bio-Ecology Center, in Yagi Town (Kyoto Prefecture) where livestock farming flourishes. This center extracts methane gas from a mixture of waste from 1,150 cattle and 1,500 pigs, and "okara" (soybean pulp leftover when making tofu) generated from a tofu factory also in the town. You might ask, "Can cow and pig waste generate energy?" The answer is "yes." When animal waste ferments, methane gas is produced. The gas can be used as fuel to generate electricity.

This gas can generate all the electricity consumed in the center, and the extra electricity is sold to an electric power company. In Japan, several other places where livestock farming is an important industry, such as Hokkaido and Iwate Prefecture, are also actively promoting the use of livestock waste for generating electricity.

In Denmark, where livestock farming is flourishing, the people regard livestock farmers as suppliers of energy, not only as suppliers of meat, milk and eggs. It's interesting that the citizens call them "energy farmers." In Germany, the government has set a goal that one fifth of the domestic energy supplies be produced from biomass. Around the world now, there are high expectations for biomass as an energy source.

Send your opinion

Please let us know what you think about our website.

Is the information interesting?
Are some words or sentences too difficult for you to understand?
Do you have any ideas to improve the website?

We might share your advice with our volunteers and supporters.
They will be encouraged by your feedback.

Please note in the text box below if you don't want us to share your comments with our staff.

Thanks for your help!