Total biomass utilisation

Biomass is renewable organic material from plants and animals. Plant biomass contains stored chemical energy from the sun that plants produce through photosynthesis. Animal biomass consists of bones, soft shell (and similar coverings), soft tissues and excreta which can be composted and used in the fertiliser industry. Biomass can be used as an energy source. For example, the by-products from forestry, vegetable gardens and farm crops, animal dung from farms and even sewage can be burned as fuel or used to generate electricity.

Industrial processes are used to convert biomass into products such as foods, fuels, chemicals and electricity. These processes are usually developed by local entrepreneur(s). Sometimes the government finances the industrial process.

Watch the video How does biomass work? by ACCIONA.

It explains several advantages of using biomass energy:

• It is 100 per cent renewable.
• It reduces the use of fossil fuels, helping to reduce a community’s carbon footprint.
• It creates employment and promotes development in rural areas.

Here are some key points to remember for effective total biomass use:

1. The biomass material you collect at the village and household levels may be enough to use as manure for crops and vegetable gardens. In farms with large agricultural crops, government agencies may need to train the landowners in how to collect and store plant and animal biomass.
2. Sort and store biomass in suitable containers, boxes or crates — for example, plastic containers or buckets with airtight covers or lids — in farm sheds.
3. Biomass that is being used to generate power may have to be transported in trucks from farms to an industrial site and unloaded at the site.
4. People who work in a biomass power plant will probably need training on how to operate the machinery. A government agency or entrepreneur may fund and provide this training.

To find out more, watch the video Renewable Energy 101: How Does Biomass Energy Work? by Green Mountain Energy.

The great thing about biomass energy — also called bioenergy — is that its sources are plant and animal waste. So not only does biomass energy divert this organic matter from the waste stream, it also turns it into something we all need — without polluting the planet.

Group activity

Formative assessment 3:

Invite an expert in total biomass utilisation to speak to the members of your community.

• Ask the expert to collaborate with participants to identify one or two methods of carrying out total biomass utilisation in a local context.
• Divide into smaller groups to discuss in detail how to carry out biomass use with:
  • crops and plant material waste and
  • waste from domesticated animals such as poultry, deer, sheep and cows.
• Remember to think about how to treat animal waste so that it does not harm human health.
• Later, ask the expert to facilitate local hands-on training in the total biomass utilisation method(s) that were identified.