Biomass

The term biomass refers to living or recently dead organisms and any byproducts of these organisms. This includes wood, crops, municipal waste, and sewage. Biomass energy production has gone from having a positive impact, on the environment, when supplied by wood scraps, to raising food prices, leading to forest destruction, and accelerating carbon dioxide (CO₂) generation when land is dedicated to energy production.

Methane collection at wastewater treatment plants prevents the release of potent greenhouse gases, making this a prime example of a positive use of biomass for energy.

Cutting down healthy forests across the globe to burn for electricity generation, which produces more (CO₂) than burning coal, is an example of biomass use accelerating global warming.

Learn about both the good and the bad in the following section.

Fast Facts

• Biomass refers to living or recently dead organisms and any byproducts of those organisms.
• Generating energy from biomass can produce more C02 than burning coal, or prevent the release of potent greenhouse gases, depending on its application.
• Trees remove (CO₂) from the atmosphere but can also transport methane from wet soils with decaying vegetation to the atmosphere.

Biomass Explained

The term biomass refers to living or recently dead organisms and any byproducts of those organisms – plant or animal.  This includes crops (trees and food), residues, and other forms of biological materials that can be used to substitute fossil fuels in energy production.  Biofuel refers to any fuel derived from biomass. 

Friend or Foe

Like all renewable energy sources, the relative positive and negative environmental impacts vary dramatically, with many applications increasing the equivalent greenhouse gas generation.  When appropriately used, biomass energy provides an overwhelming positive environmental benefit with few negative impacts, beyond cost.   Methane capture from landfills and wastewater treatment plants are two of the strongest examples of being overwhelmingly positive environmentally.  These applications prevent generated methane (a potent greenhouse gas) from escaping into the atmosphere, by burning it to produce electricity or provide fuel for heating.  Burning municipal trash, after removing all materials that can be economically recycled from the waste stream, is another example of environmentally friendly use of biomass.  Presuming toxic emissions are captured and stored in a manner that prevents the creation of additional environmental hazards.

Many (if not more) biomass renewable energy projects provide minimal reductions or increase GHG emissions. Activists, politicians, and even countries have used biomass renewable energy projects, which are an abomination to the environment, for no pain (beyond higher taxes for consumers) green credentials. 

Trees and Climate Change

Trees remove (sequester) carbon CO₂ from the atmosphere when provided with adequate water, sunlight, and warmth.  The carbon captured by a tree returns to the atmosphere as CO₂ if it is burned in a wildfire or electrical generating plant.  When a plant decays, as the leaves fall off during seasonal changes, the carbon in the leaves returns to the atmosphere as CO₂ or methane (CH₄). Trees generate methane when located in wetlands, such as the Amazon and other warm climates.  

Methane Transport

While climate change activists and politicians falsely claim that the Amazon produces 20% of the Earth’s oxygen, methane transport due to seasonal flooding (floodplains), and transport to the atmosphere by trees goes unnoticed.   Some researchers claim the methane released from the Amazon equals that from all of the world’s oceans combined.  

Accelerating Global Warming to Appear Green

While Europeans lecture the developing world about not building coal power plants due to their carbon footprints, they take credit for zero emissions while burning wood from mature trees cut to generate electricity that produces more CO₂ than coal, with many more toxic emissions. 

After the media picked up on this loophole in the Paris Climate Agreement, and true environmentalists, (in contrast to the virtue-signaling hypocrites) the European Union was forced to re-evaluate their decision to provide pain-free green credits for increasing greenhouse gas emissions.  Their refusal to change their stance was not surprising since the biggest virtue signalers are typically the least virtuous. 

Biofuels

Biofuel is a type of renewable energy derived from organic materials, primarily plant and animal sources.  

Similar to wind and solar, biofuels require large amounts of land relative to the energy produced. In countries with energy-intensive farming, like the US, it is questionable whether the energy produced even equals the energy required to produce the biofuel. Consequently, biofuels in the US is politically driven by a powerful farm lobby, rather than energy independence or environmental concerns.