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Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Hydro, Nuclear and Other Sources

Biomass

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

/ˈbaɪoʊmæs/nounCommon term

In energy & renewables, biomass means: Organic material from plants and animals, such as wood chips, crop residues and manure, that is burned or turned into gas or fuel to produce energy.

In Turkish: biyokütle

How it is used

Used in power, heat and policy discussions. Biomass plants burn solid fuel; biogas plants turn waste into gas through anaerobic digestion. Whether biomass is really low-carbon depends on where the material comes from, so sustainability criteria matter.

Example sentences

  1. The biomass plant burns olive pits and other farm waste from the region.

  2. Biomass from the dairy farm's manure feeds a biogas unit that makes electricity and heat.

Common collocations

  • biomass power plant
  • biomass boiler
  • biogas
  • sustainable biomass
  • wood chips
  • renewable energyEnergy from sources that nature replaces all the time, such as sunlight, wind, flowing water, the Earth's heat and organic material, so they do not run out like coal, oil or gas.
  • combined heat and powerProducing electricity and useful heat at the same time from one fuel, so that heat a normal power plant would waste is used in buildings or industry.
  • steam turbineA machine in which high-pressure steam flows over rows of blades and turns a shaft connected to a generator. Coal, nuclear, geothermal and many biomass plants use one.
  • geothermal energyEnergy from heat inside the Earth, brought to the surface as hot water or steam through wells and used to generate electricity or to heat buildings and greenhouses.

More terms: Hydro, Nuclear and Other Sources

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