Energy from organic material: wood, crop residues, purpose-grown fuels and biogenic waste, burned directly or converted to liquid biofuels and biogas. Wood was the dominant human energy source for nearly all of history, and biomass remains the chief cooking and heating fuel for a large share of the world today, while modern bioenergy also fuels power stations and blends into transport fuels.
Facts
Source Class First Commercial YearWood and other biomass fueled mills and small operations for their own use long before any dedicated utility plant sold power from it commercially. The McNeil Generating Station in Burlington, Vermont, dedicated on 17 March 1984 and delivering power to the New England grid from June 1984, is recorded as the first large scale wood burning power plant in the world. Biomass Energy
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Connections
Associated With
Source United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
Source Penn State Extension
Additional Source United States Energy Information Administration Official SiteBiomass explained, Landfill gas and biogas
Animal dung is classified among the traditional biomass fuels (with firewood, charcoal and agricultural residues) in IEA clean-cooking-access reporting.
Source Ireland Energy 2050
Additional Source International Peatland SocietyPeat for heat and power
Source Trash Cans Unlimited
Additional Source United States Energy Information Administration Official SiteBiomass explained, Waste-to-energy
Open Questions
Source United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
Used By
Source Drax Group Official Site
Sources
1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
US Energy Information AdministrationBiomass explained, opening definition, US Energy Information Administration
Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals.
Associated With: Biogas, Biomass explained, Landfill gas and biogas
Biogas, which is also called renewable natural gas (RNG) or biomethane, is an energy-rich gas produced from biomass.
Associated With: Biofuels, Biofuels explained
The term biofuels usually applies to liquid fuels and blending components produced from biomass materials called feedstocks.
Associated With: Waste-to-Energy, Biomass explained, Waste-to-energy
Biomass materials has accounted for about 61% of the weight of the combustible MSW and for about 45% of the electricity generated
- Open Questions: When did biomass energy first become a commercial power source, as distinct from its individual fuels?
View the Source 2. WCAX: This Day in History, Burlington Wood Chip Plant Dedicated
WCAX-TVThis Day in History: Burlington wood chip plant dedicated, WCAX, paragraph on the March 1984 dedicationQuote, This Day in History: Burlington wood chip plant dedicated, WCAX, paragraph on the March 1984 dedication
The first large-scale wood-burning power plant in the world was dedicated on this day in history.
International Peatland Society
International Peatland SocietyAssociated With: Peat, Peat for heat and powerQuote, Associated With: Peat, Peat for heat and power
Peat is used in co-generation (combined heat and power, CHP) and in heating facilities with wood fuels
Drax Group Official Site
Drax Group plcUsed By: Drax Power Station, Our sites, Drax Power StationQuote, Used By: Drax Power Station, Our sites, Drax Power Station
100% using compressed wood pellets, a form of sustainably sourced biomass
Ireland Energy 2050
Trash Cans Unlimited
Penn State Extension
Open Questions (1 open question)
When did biomass energy first become a commercial power source, as distinct from its individual fuels?
Biomass energy covers fuels with their own documented first commercial dates (Biofuels 1975, Biogas 1895); no single first commercial year is defensible for the umbrella category, and traditional biomass burning for heat predates any commercial record.
What would resolve this A family decision on whether first-commercial-year for this umbrella entity should mean the first traditional biomass trade (undiscoverable) or the first purpose-built biomass electricity station, which this atlas has not yet made.
Energy history and taxonomyUnited States Energy Information Administration Official Site
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