Is it possible to one day "grow" our energy?

Basic Definition: Biomass is biological material composed of or derived from living, or recently living organisms.

Chemical Composition: Biomass is carbon based and is composed of a mixture of organic molecules containing hydrogen, usually including atoms of oxygen, often nitrogen and also small quantities of other atoms, including alkali, alkaline earth, and heavy metals. The importance of this observation will become clear as we examine modern methods of extracting the energy from biomass.

Extended Definition: In the context of renewable energy, biomass is often used to mean plant based material, but biomass as a renewable energy resource can equally apply to both animals and plants. It's definition should also include material produced by:

1. Residue of plant and animal life processes (e.g., flowering, fruit production, shedding leaves, manure production, etc.)
2. Material produced in growing, harvesting, or processing plants and animals (e.g., rice straw, forest residue, corn stover, tallow, offal, etc.)

The carbon used to construct biomass is absorbed from the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2) by plant life, using energy from the sun. Plants may subsequently be eaten by animals and thus converted into animal biomass. However the primary absorption is performed by plants.

There are many types of biomass plants in the world, and many ways they can be used for energy production. In general there are two approaches depending on local customs, resources, and conditions:

1. Growing plants specifically for energy use (e.g., corn for fermentation into ethanol or wood for burning)
2. Using the residues from plants that are used for other things (e.g., rice straw for burning, saw mill waste wood, etc.)

Burning creates a large about of CO2 which is a "greenhouse gas" as well as other harmful compounds like NOx and SOx that pollute the atmosphere. Gasificaiton is also a "thermochemical" process which is often incorrectly confused with burning. Gasificaiton, especially advanced gasification carried out in a reduced or oxygen free environment, is a much cleaner way and more energy efficient way to extract the chemical and heat energy locked in biomass. It creates almost no atmospheric pollution while using heat to convert the biomass to a clean burning synthetic analogue to natural gas, or "Syn Gas."

The Syn Gas produced by gasification can, like its analogue natural gas, be processed into a variety of chemicals and products.