Biomass refers to living and recently dead biological
material that can be used as fuel or for industrial
production. Most commonly, biomass refers ___1___
plant matter grown for use as biofuel, but it also
includes plant or animal matter used for production of
fibers, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include
biodegradable wastes that can be bunt as fuel. It
excludes organic material which has been ___2___
by geological processes into substances such as coal or
petroleum. Biomass is grown from several plants,
including corn and sugarcane. The particular plant used
is usually not very important to the end products, but
it does ___3___ the
processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is
a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel
sources is growing.
Although fossil fuels have ___4___
origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered
biomass by the generally accepted definition because
they contain carbon that has been out of the carbon
cycle for a very long time. Their ___5___
therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the
atmosphere. |