Biomass is the Greek Word for Life, hence Biomass Energy is nothing but Energy derived from the living things. It is the kind of energy that is received from the Organic Matter. It is the energy that one gets from the living beings. It is an industry term as well where it means that the energy is derived from the burning of wood and different organic matter. The biomass energy generates Carbon di Oxide, which can be used by the plants to regrow and helps in its regrowth. The biomass energy system is very famous in the coal power industry where they switch from coal to biomass only to convert the energy into renewable energy and they don’t waste any energy and doesn’t harm any plants and the infrastructure as well. Biomass mainly refers the plants and the plant-based materials. The cycle of nature has to be completed to generate biomass and there are various kinds of materials that are used to convert the biomass into energy like combustion, Gasification, bio-digestion, Pyrolysis, Fermentation, and many other ways. there are many advantages and disadvantages of biomass energy.
Advantages of Biomass Energy
- Biomass Energy is a renewable form of Energy – The biomass Energy that is generated is the renewable form of energy because of the organic material that is used to produce this and the product can be used over and over again. The materials used are wood, garbage, sewage sludge, crop waste, and manure which is non-stop produced by the people and all these materials can be used again and again.
- It controls the Carbon content – the biomass energy is a natural part of the carbon cycle and it takes care of the excessive amount of carbon that is released by the people.
- It is widely available – The Biomass Energy is wildly available just like the solar energy and the wind energy. It can be found in any corner of the world without any problems and there is no lack of the supply of the biomass energy.
- Biomass Energy is comparatively cheaper than fossil fuels – The biomass energy as compared to the fossil fuels are cheaper and are also easily available.
- It minimizes the dependence on the Electricity – The Biomass Energy can be produced by anyone and it can be easily produced at homes, which can be used as the back-ups of Electricity in times of needs and one does not has to depend only on the power supply.
Disadvantages of Biomass Energy
- Not very clean – The biomass energy is produced from the waste products and therefore sometimes it is not very clean like other gases and energy. The excessive usage of biomass energy may save on carbon dioxide but it produces Methane, which is very harmful to the Ozone Layer.
- The risk of deforestation can increase – With the increased use of biomass energy the risk of deforestation might increase and it can make a lot of birds and animals homeless.
- Needs a lot of water – The biomass energy needs a lot of energy for the process and during the scarcity of water it becomes a problem.
- Less efficient than fossil fuel – No matter how good the Biomass Energy is, it is less effective than the fossil fuel energy.