But what is bioenergy? Well, it’s a process by which organic material such as animal waste, plants and wood are utilised to generate electricity, produce heat and also aid in the production of biofuels.

In the case of biomass, hot air or water is generated to produce electricity. This is done through direct combustion and is considered the simplest and most common technique of generating energy from biomass.

Aside from generating electricity, biomass can be utilised for hot air production so you can keep a place warm. For this to work, biomass has to be combusted in a furnace where it heats either water or air. Speaking of water, this enables you to have warm water so you can take a shower. In short, biomass in itself can also be used in a small scale as a heating system.

Since you can generate electricity and heat, some people have been able to combine the two which is known as combined heat and power or CHP.

You do not have to collect it first which is what happens with solar or even wind energy since this is manufactured technology. It’s readily available unlike the other two which is totally dependent on the weather.

Another is the fact that you can even use organic waste to produce electricity. No other green energy source can do that and by using this extensively, any government can save money because you do not have to spend money to dispose of the waste and you’ll no longer depend on foreign oil that much to power your plants.

The downside to biomass is that because you’ve to burn waste and other organic materials to produce power, you add to the pollution which is already in the atmosphere. But this can be offset of course by planting more crops which we know helps reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

You’ll also have to shell out a lot of money initially for the costs of labor, the transport of these fuels and how these should be stored.

Biomass uses renewable natural resources which is why it’s considered a green energy source. This means that we have an endless supply of it around just like the power of the sun or the wind which flows from the ocean. The challenge is to find suitable land that has a sufficient water supply so these will be able to grow.

This means that in areas where water isn’t that abundant, you can’t rely on biomass technology to generate power. When that happens, you use other means and one good example given the right geographical location is wave energy which is the process of generating power from the water.

There’s a way to generate power without causing harm to the environment. We have the technology and the green energy sources. We just require to muster the willingness to make it happen.