Question

Define biomass.

Answer 1

Hint: The biomass when burnt produces carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere. The conversion of the biomass is classified into thermal conversion, chemical conversion, biochemical conversion and electrochemical conversion.

Complete Answer:
The biomass is any material from which the energy is produced. This may be plant or animal materials. This material can be burnt or undergo some chemical process to convert into useful fuels like ethanol, methane etc.

(1) Thermal conversion: The heat is applied for the purpose of conversion of the biomass into fuel. This is done by gasification, pyrolysis and the incineration. The incineration takes place in the presence of excess of oxygen where the pyrolysis takes place in the little or no oxygen.

(2) Chemical conversion: The several chemical processes are used for the conversion of the biomass to the fuel. Some of the processes are Fischer-Tropsch synthesis etc.

(3) Biochemical conversion: In this process, the biological microorganisms are used to convert the biomass. Thus, the chemical process takes place. This process can take place by fermentation, anaerobic digestion and composting. In this process, the glycoside hydrolase enzyme is also used.

(4) Electrochemical conversion: The biomass is converted into electrical energy by the electrochemical cell.

Note: The biomass may be wood, crops grown from the agricultural land, forest residue, animal waste like cow dung, sewage waste, horticultural waste and the waste from the food processing like molasses from the sugar production, corn cobs etc.