Dear Twig: “Biomass fuels.” What are they?
Biomass (“BY-oh-mass”) fuels get made from things like corn, sawdust, soybeans, even pig poop — what scientists call biomass feedstocks. “Biomass feedstocks are any organic matter available on a renewable basis for conversion to energy,” says the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. (“Organic,” in this case, means it comes from a living thing. “Renewable” means you can get more of it without it ever running out.) Biomass feedstocks also include things like straw, wood chips, sewage and trash.
Biomass fuels, or biofuels, get made many ways. By fermentation. Super-hot heating. Digestion by microbes. And so on. Solid, liquid and gas fuels result. Folks can use them to run cars and trucks, heat homes, and make electricity.
The good? Less air pollution. Less need for oil. And helpful new uses for crops we grow lots of (like corn) and also for stuff we usually dump (like trash).
Look for biofuels to keep growing!
Twig
P.S. Biofuels include biodiesel car fuel (from soybeans) and ethanol-blend gasoline (from corn).
Note: The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Twig’s home and employer (along with OSU Extension), is doing more and more research on biofuels. Read more here: http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/htdigsearch/search.php; search for “biomass fuel.” The pig poop reference, far from being gratuitous potty humor, is based on science. Read more at http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=3550 (then come to the lecture!). Sources included the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, http://www.puco.ohio.gov/ (scroll down the left side; click on “Biomass Energy Program”); and Green Energy Ohio, http://www.greenenergyohio.org/page.cfm?pageID=49.
“Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick,” a service of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences — specifically, of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and Ohio State University Extension, both part of the College — is a weekly column for children about science, nature, farming and the environment. For details and to receive Twig free by mail, e-mail or fax, contact Kurt Knebusch, News and Media Relations, CommTech, OSU/OARDC,1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691, knebusch.1@osu.edu, (330) 263-3776. Available online at extension.osu.edu/~news/archive.php?series=science.
