Energy from Biomass
Introduced| English |
|---|
| biomass energy/ˌbaɪəʊˈmæs ˈenədʒi/ |
| ethanol/ˈeθənɒl/ |
| biogas/ˌbaɪəʊˈɡæs/ |
| renewable/rɪˈnjuːəbl/ |
| particulates/pəˈtɪkjʊleɪts/ |
| deforestation/diːˌfɒrɪˈsteɪʃn/ |
Energy from living things
- Biomass energy 生物质能 comes from burning plant and animal material.
- Wood, crop waste, and animal dung are all biomass.
- People have burned wood for heat and cooking for thousands of years.
- It is still a major energy source in much of the world.
How we use it
- The simplest way is to burn it directly for heat.
- Crops like corn and sugarcane become liquid ethanol 乙醇 fuel.
- Rotting waste can be captured as biogas 沼气 for cooking.
- So biomass gives us solid, liquid, and gas fuels.
Biomass energy comes from…
Biomass is organic material — wood, crop waste, dung — burned or converted to fuel.
The benefits
- Plants regrow, so biomass is renewable 可再生.
- It can use waste — scraps, sawdust, dung — that would rot anyway.
- Growing crops absorbs CO2, so it can be near carbon-neutral.
- It gives poorer areas a cheap, local fuel.
Biomass is considered renewable because…
Crops and trees regrow, so biomass can be replaced — that is what makes it renewable.
Corn and sugarcane can be turned into a liquid biofuel called ____.
Ethanol is a biofuel made from crops, often blended into gasoline.
The costs
- Burning biomass still releases smoke and particulates 颗粒物.
- Cutting forests for fuel causes deforestation 森林砍伐.
- Fuel crops can compete with food crops for land.
- So "renewable" does not mean "harmless".
Benefit or cost of biomass energy?
Sort each feature of burning biomass into a benefit or a cost.
Burning biomass releases smoke and particulates that harm air quality.
Like any burning, biomass gives off smoke and fine particles that hurt the lungs.
Select all sources of biomass energy.
Firewood, crop waste, and dung are all biomass. Uranium is a nuclear fuel, not biomass.
Biomass is renewable but not automatically clean. Burned in the open, it pollutes the air like any fire. And it is only carbon-neutral if the plants are actually regrown — clear a forest for fuel and never replant, and you've released its stored carbon for good. The benefit depends on managing it well.
Two villages:
- One collects fallen wood and crop scraps, and replants trees — a renewable cycle with modest smoke.
- The other clears standing forest for firewood and never replants — the "renewable" fuel becomes deforestation and lost carbon storage.
- Same fuel; management makes the difference.
Biomass energy comes from burning organic material — wood, crop waste, dung — or converting crops into ethanol and biogas. Its benefits: it is renewable, uses waste, and can be near carbon-neutral. Its costs: burning releases smoke and particulates, and demand can drive deforestation and compete with food land.