Biomass combustion and CHP
Burning wood, residues and pellets for heat and power.
Capture · Bioenergy · No. 37
- Capture
- Output: Heat and electricity
Smoke from cooking fires and stoves causes about 3.2 million early deaths a year, mostly through heart disease and stroke.
Chart: Illustration: Biomass combustion and CHP
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Plants store sunlight as wood, straw and dung. Burnt on an open fire, only 10-20% of the heat reaches the pot; a well-matched CHP plant puts 70-90% to use.
Three things to know
- Bone-dry wood holds 18-20 MJ per kg, but at 50% moisture only about 8.5 MJ, because the water must first be boiled off.
- Traditional earth mound kilns burn about 6-8 t of wood to make a single tonne of charcoal.
- A small 2 MWe biomass plant turns about a sixth of its fuel into electricity, while a 350 MWe plant manages 36%.
The journey
- 1 SunlightPhotosynthesis stores energy in plants
- 2 FuelFirewood, dung, chips, pellets or charcoal
- 3 BurningStove, boiler or power plant furnace
- 4 SteamDrives a turbine in power plants
- 5 Heat and powerCooking, buildings, factories and the grid