Biomass and Biofuels

By John Sun, Emily Murphy, Noah

Hupp, and Valerie Joseph
 What Is Biomass?
• Biomass is a renewable energy source
• It can be anything from wood to garbage-
even animal manure!
How To Turn Biomass Into Fuel
• Biomass can be burned as long as there is
oxygen present
• When burned, the stored chemical energy
within the biomass becomes converted
into thermal energy
 Garbage and Energy
• Garbage releases energy when burned
• The United States burns only 14% of it’s
annual amount of trash
• The average American family produces
around 4.5 lbs. of garbage a day- which is
1642.5 lbs. of garbage annually
 Waste-To-Energy Plants
• Plants that can use thermal energy from
waste to produce energy
• Over 90 plants over the United States
• The energy produced by these plants can
power 3 million households, but cost more
than fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and
hydroelectricity.
 What Are Biofuels?
• Liquid fuels that are produced from
biomass (organic products - like plants)
• Biodiesel and ethanol are common types
of biofuels
• Can be used to fuel cars, trucks, and even
aircrafts
 The Pros and Cons
Pros Cons
• Doesn’t release sulfur • Releases other
when burned, so no greenhouse gases,
acid rain formed which may cause
• Less harmful to the global warming
environment than • Relatively high in
fossil fuels price
 More Benefits of Biomass
• It’s a renewable energy source
• Since biofuels come from organic
materials, it ultimately gets its energy from
the sun
 This Worked! – But Don’t Try It At
Home
• In an experiment using biomass, scientists
from the University of North Dakota
created a completely renewable fuel made
from vegetable oil.
• They used this fuel to launch a twenty-foot
rocket.
 How to Learn More
• Take classes at colleges if you’re
passionate about this topic
• The Universities of North Dakota, Northern
British Columbia, Wisconsin-Madison,
Massachusetts Amherst are great places
to take these classes