Biomass - renewable
What is biomass?
Biomass is a renewable, low carbon fuel. Its production and use also brings additional environmental and social benefits.
Why use biomass?
The combustion (direct or indirect) of biomass as a fuel also returns CO2 to the atmosphere. However this carbon is part of the current carbon cycle: it was absorbed during the growth of the plant over the previous few months or years and, provided the land continues to support growing plant material, a sustainable balance is maintained between carbon emitted and absorbed.
Burning any carbon based fuel converts carbon to carbon dioxide. Unless it is captured and stored, this carbon dioxide is usually released to the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon that was removed from the amosphere millions of years ago by animal and plant life. This leads to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Correctly managed, biomass is a sustainable fuel that can offer a significant reduction in net carbon emissions compared with fossil fuels.
