These terms refer to three generally different end uses of biomass based products. “Biofuel” is short for “biomass fuel,” a term used for liquid fuels produced from biomass (generally transportation fuels), such as ethanol, bio-oil, and biodiesel. “Biopower” refers to biomass-fueled power systems that generate electricity or industrial process heat and steam, such as combined heat and power (CHP) systems. “Bioproduct” is short for “biomass products” and can be used to describe a chemical, material, or other (non-energy) product such …
Why is there such an emphasis on power production from biomass?
Woody biomass is an abundant and readily available resource that historically has not been used much except by forest products manufacturers as an internal energy source at their facilities, although many such manufacturers have also been able to produce excess electric power for sale to the grid. Whereas commercial-scale production of transportation fuels is still in early stages of development, technologies are already well-developed for producing heat and electricity from biomass in firing or co-firing in boilers and in gasification …