Biomass Energy

Today, energy is a key area of concern. The concern is based on where are our future supplies of energy going to come from, the cost of that energy and its impact on the environment. Today's society has been built on fossil fuel energy, however in the future this will become less sustainable and also less affordable. Along with other forms of renewable energy such as wind and solar, biomass energy will play an important role in our energy future. Even today biomass is being used and more to replace our use of fossil fuel. For example many coal fired power stations now mix a percentage of biomass in with the coal to reduce the carbon emissions of the power plant. Currently there are many new biomass energy power plants in development. Biomass is a collective terms for any cellulose material which can be used to produce energy. This includes all wood residue, but also energy crops and agricultural waste. Another advantage with biomass compared to wind or solar, is biomass is a commodity which can be traded. Therefore a new green economy can revolve around biomass energy.

Biomass Burner and Renewable Energy

To convert biomass into energy means combustion of the biomass material must take place. Many people still believe that combustion of any fuel is bad for the environment, however as long as the combustion is efficient, producing very little if any smoke, biomass combustion is not actually bad for the environment. Biomass is already part of the carbon cycle, and biomass combustion simply returns the carbon within the biomass back into the cycle. Importantly to support our increased future energy demands, biomass is a renewable for of energy. This means we can quickly replace the biomass we use, unlike fossil fuels. The most practical and efficient way to combust biomass is in a wood pellet stove or pellet boiler.

Wood Pellets Fuel and Grass Pellets

Pellets are simply a compressed for of the original raw material, in this case biomass. Biomass pellets can be either wood pellets or more unique fuel pellets such as grass pellets. Through compressing biomass into pellets a biomass energy source has been formed which can bed used in the smallest home in a very compact yet highly automated stove design. Currently the biomass energy pellet fuel market is heavily dominated by wood pellets and particularly premium wood pellets. However, there is not enough suitable wood resources to produce premium wood pellets to meet the future market demand. Therefore more biomass fuel pellets will be used in stoves and boilers.

Biomass Bioenergy and Pellet Plant

To meet the future demand of the pellet market with biomass energy fuel pellets, more pellet plants will be established, both large and small scale operations. To produce biomass pellets, firstly the material is reduced to small particles in a hammer mill. The material is then dried through either a flash dryer or rotary dryer. Once the particle are dry and of a sufficient particle size they are ready for the pellet mill. In the pellet mill the biomass is exposed to intensive heat and pressure to reform the material into a pellet. The pellets exit the pellet mill at around 90 degrees. Therefore before the pellets can be used they must be cooled down.

PelHeat Wood Pellet Production Guide

At PelHeat we have many years of experience in pellet production, and we provide a pellet production consultation service. The PelHeat guide download will show you how to make wood and other fuel pellets.