Energy Facts

Biomass

Biomass is a biological material derived from living, or recently living, organisms. In the context of biomass for energy this is often used to mean plant based material, but biomass can equally apply to both animal and vegetable derived material.

Categories of biomass materials

Within this definition, biomass for energy can include a wide range of materials.

The realities of the economics mean that high value material for which there is an alternative market, such as good quality, large timber, are very unlikely to become available for energy applications. However there are huge resources of residues, co-products and waste that exist in the UK which could potentially become available, in quantity, at relatively low cost, or even negative cost where there is currently a requirement to pay for disposal.

There are five basic categories of material:

• Virgin wood, from forestry, arboricultural activities or from wood processing
• Energy crops: high yield crops grown specifically for energy applications
• Agricultural residues: residues from agriculture harvesting or processing
• Food waste, from food and drink manufacture, preparation and processing, and post-consumer waste
• Industrial waste and co-products from manufacturing and industrial processes