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Biomass Energy: Renewable Resources

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Renewable Energy

Biomass is the energy we get from plants and animals that have died. It is organic material made from microorganisms containing stored energy from a process called photosynthesis. When photosynthesis occurs, plants take in sunlight with carbon dioxide and water, and then release glucose, which the plant uses for food and oxygen, which is the air that we breathe. Then sooner of later the plant will either die or get eaten. When it is eaten, the energy from the plant is passed from the plant to the animal or people eating them. When they die, the energy is either released into the air or it is used as fuel for burning or cooking. There are five types of biomass, wood, crops, garbage, landfill gases, and alcohol fuels. All of these are renewable because more trees and crops can be grown and there will always be trash and waste. We release energy from these all the time and most people don't even realize it, but when you burn these, energy is released. Biomass energy is released in the form of heat. If you ever go camping and have a campfire, you are burning biomass fuels and the heat from the fire is energy. You can use the heat from the fire to boil water and create steam to create electricity. You can also use it to heat homes or other places. You can also convert biomass to other forms of energy such as natural gas. You probably didn't know that rotting garbage, human waste, and crops are one of the key ingredients of natural gas. Methane gas is also
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