Biomass is any sort of vegetation, including trees, grasses, and plant parts such as leaves, stems, and twigs. During photosynthesis, plants form carbohydrates,

Biomass is any sort of vegetation, including trees, grasses, and plant parts such as leaves, stems, and twigs. During photosynthesis, plants form carbohydrates, which form the building blocks of biomass. The solar energy that drives photosynthesis is stored in the chemical bonds of the biomass. Remember “Burn A Nut”?

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Biofuels — Converting biomass into liquid fuels for transportation (ethanol, biodiesel)

Biopower — Burning biomass directly, or converting it into gaseous or liquid fuels that burn more efficiently, to generate electricity

Bioproducts — Converting biomass into chemicals for making plastics and other products that typically are made from petroleum

How is corn plastic manufactured? 1.Th eharvested corn crop is soaked and ground so that the endosperm can be separated from the gluten and fiber. This step is typical in grain crop harvesting, too. 2. Enzymes are added to the starchy endosperm, which converts the endosperm into a simple sugar called dextrose.3. The addition of bacterial cultures causes the sugar to ferment into lactic acid in the same way brewers use fermentation to produce beer. 4. The resulting acid consists of lactide molecules, which bond into long chains called polymers. 5. At the end of this process, bioplastics producers have pellets of polylactic acid plastic, which can then be spun off into fibers or melted to take just about any form.

Ethanol is an alcohol, and is made using a process similar to brewing beer. Ethanol can be made from many feedstocks: corn grain in the US and sugarcane in Brazil are the two most prominent at present. However, ethanol can also be made from agricultural straws, woods, and grasses.

Brainpop: biofuels

How Much Biomass Is Used for Fuel?

Biomass fuels provided about 4% of the energy used in the United States in 2011.

Of this, about 45% was from wood and wood-derived biomass,

44% from biofuels (mainly ethanol), and about

11% from municipal waste (garbage).