Serwis informacyjno-usługowy dla przedsiębiorcy

Use of the energy of the biomass

According to the Act on Renewable Energy Sources, biomass are solid or liquid substances of plant or animal origin that are biodegradable, derived from products, waste and residues from agriculture and forestry and industries processing these products, as well as parts of other waste that are biodegradable, and cereal grains which do not meet the quality requirements for cereals in intervention purchasing.

Biomass are mainly residues and waste.

Different kinds of biomass have different features. For energy purposes, wood and wood processing waste, plants derived from energy crops, agricultural products and organic waste from agriculture, certain municipal and industrial waste are used. The drier and the more condensed the biomass is, the greater is its value as a fuel. For example, a very valuable fuel produced from shredded wood waste are briquettes. Refined fuel arising from it, such as briquettes or wood pellets, is obtained by drying, milling and pressing of the biomass. Costs of heating with the use of such fuels are currently lower than the costs of heating with the use of heating oil.

A variety of biomass is biogas, called a biomass in gaseous state.  It is formed during the anaerobic digestion of organic matter occurring at sewage treatment plants and landfills. Biogas is mainly a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. It is commonly referred to as marsh gas and is produced during anaerobic fermentation of organic matter. Mankind can use it in various ways, among others for the production of:

  • electric power in spark engines and turbines,
  • thermal energy in adapted boilers.

A type of biogas is agricultural biogas obtained from agricultural by-products, liquid or solid animal manure, by-products or residues from the processing of agricultural products or forest biomass. Agricultural biogas does not include gases obtained during fermentation processes of raw materials recovered from sewage treatment plants and landfills.

Finally, the product of biomass processing can also be bioliquids, that is liquid fuels used for energy purposes other than transportation, including the production of electricity or heat produced from biomass or full value cereal grains, used in installations which comply with emission standards. An example of such bioliquids are plant oils (usually rapeseed oil) used for combustion in electric power generators.

Czy ta strona była przydatna?