Biomass

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Biomass

Biomass is “the biodegradable fraction of waste, residues from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industry and municipal waste”.
(European Commission’s definition).

Biomass is any organic matter, typically plant-based, that is available on a renewable and/or recurring basis. Biomass resources include forest and mill residues, agricultural crops and waste, wood and wood waste, animal waste, livestock operation residues, aquatic plants, fast-growing trees and plants and municipal as well as industrial waste.
Biomass can be used, directly by converting it into energy in its solid or gasified form, for heating and/or power generation purposes, or indirectly by converting it into solid, liquid or gaseous fuels (such as green coal or bioethanol).

The various types of biomass resources can be classified in function of their origin.

Supply sector	Type	Example
Supply sector	Type	Example
Forestry	Dedicated forestry	Short rotation plantations (e.g. willow, poplar, eucalyptus)
Forestry	Forestry by-products	Wood blocks, wood chips from thinning (dead trees, ...)

Agriculture	Dry lignocellulosic energy crops	Herbaceous crops (e.g. miscanthus, ...)
	Oil, sugar and starch energy crops	Oil seeds for methylesters (e.g. rape seed, sunflower)
		Sugar crops for ethanol (e.g. sugar cane, sweet sorghum)
		Starch crops for ethanol (e.g. maize, wheat)
	Agricultural residues	Straw, prunings from vineyards and fruit trees
	Livestock waste	Wet and dry manure

Industry	Industrial residues	Industrial waste wood, sawdust from sawmills
Industry	Industrial residues	Fibrous vegetable waste from paper industry

Waste	Dry lignocellulosic	Residues from parks and gardens (e.g. prunings, grass)
	Contaminated waste	Demolition wood
		Organic fraction of municipal solid waste
		Biodegradable landfill waste, landfill gas
		Sewage sludge

		4Energy Invest, through its biomass valorisation projects, mainly uses by-products of forestry industry, i.e. barks, shavings, wood chips...