What is biomass? What can be done to obtain bio-energy using biomass?
Bio-mass means, the waste materials and dead parts of living things. It includes animal dung, Poultry wastes, Plant wastes (Husk, grass, weeds etc.), Human excreta, Industrial wastes (Saw dust, wastes from food processing industries), Domestic wastes (Vegetable peels, waste food materials). These wastes can be both diy and wet.
Wet wastes are in the form of animal excreta or domestic and industrial residues whereas dry wastes refer to leaves, wood, paper, straw, fruit skin and others.
There are two ways of using biomass as a source of energy:
- By burning the dry biomass directly to generate heat.
- To convert this biomass into gaseous fuels called biogas. Biogas is produced as a result of anaerobic fermentation of biomass in the presence of water.