Biomass energy comes from variety of sources: organic materials, wood and crops, wastes from consumer and municipal and agricultural processes.


If Massachusetts decided to harvest one half of the net production of its forests, it could have the potential of powering a 500 MW plant. Massachusetts has about 1.9 million dry tones of biomass and about 3.6 million of green tones of biomass residue at hand. There are about 36 "active, idle or proposed" plants in a 4-hour radius of Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester. Biomass energy is therefore economically competitive and appealing option in New England.

 

Methods of Harnessing Energy from Biomass


Cofiring: method in which biomass is added to the mixture as a substitute of coal. With biomass added to the mixture, combustion efficiency can be as high as 33%-37%. Combine biomass with coal combustion leads to fewer harmful emissions: there is a significant decrease in CO2 emissions; there are no sulfuric gases and as much as 30% fewer oxides of nitrogen, thus reducing acid rain.


Landfill and Digester Gas:

Methane, emitted by biologic degradation, is a green house gas with the ability to trap 20 times as much heat as CO2. Using methane obtained from landfills is an economic way of addressing the problem as it is taking the gas, which would otherwise trap heat in the atmosphere, and burning it for energy. This source of methane is particularly beneficial to New England , which is 85% dependent on natural gas for electricity.



Biomass Gassification: Traditional biomass fuels, such as wood or charcoal, are gassified and then combusted to produce energy. This mixture, called synthetic gas or syngas,  is beneficial because it is more energy-efficient. The combustion occurs at a higher temperature and therefore more energy is released. Furthermore, many harmful particles, such as ash, are eliminated through gassification thus producing fewer emissions. There are four different types of biomass gassification processes: counter-current fixed bed, co-current fixed bed, fluidized bed reactor and entrained flow gasifier.