# Biomass and biofuel stores

Energy kept in wood piles, pellets, charcoal, ethanol, biodiesel and stored biogas.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/

Storage · Chemical · No. 89

- Storage
- Duration: Months
 Storage · Chemical · Foundation · Energy

A wood chip pile is alive: microbes eat up to 2.7% of it monthly, and stored pellets can give off deadly gas.

Chart: Illustration: Biomass and biofuel stores

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Plants store sunlight as chemical bonds; pellets are dried to about 8% moisture so they keep, while chips, charcoal, ethanol and biogas each age differently.

##### Three things to know

1. Covering a chip pile cuts monthly dry-matter loss from about 1.1% to 0.7%.
2. Traditional charcoal kilns keep only about 10% of the wood's energy; efficient kilns reach 30%.
3. Ethanol carries about 35% less energy per gallon than petrol (calculated), so storing it costs more per unit of energy.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Plants**Capture sunlight in cellulose, sugar, oil
2. 2 **Processing**Chipped, pelleted, charred or fermented
3. 3 **Storage**Piles, silos, tanks and gasholders
4. 4 **Losses**Microbes, oxidation, self-heating, leaks
5. 5 **Use**Heat, power, transport fuel, cooking

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and technology](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/sg-sci/index.md)
- [Engineering and performance](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/sg-eng/index.md)
- [Economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/sg-econ/index.md)
- [Impact and additionality](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/sg-impact/index.md)
- [What to track](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/tracking/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_bio_store/links/index.md)