– An expert enlightens your children
What is biomass and how is it used? The answers from Yousra Belhoussine, manager of thermal power plants at Romande Energie.
Yousra Belhoussine
Published today at 9:16 a.m.
Enerbois, the Romande Energie biomass plant, in Rueyres, in Gros-de-Vaud.
24 hours
This week, let’s continue our exploration of renewable energies. After hydraulic energy, let’s discover the secrets of biomass. What is it and how is it used? Explanations from Yousra Belhoussine, manager of thermal power plants at Romande Energie.
“Biomass is like a chest full of natural treasures that we can use to make different things work. This includes all organic matter, that is, living things, like trees, plants, food waste or even animal feces! There are two types of biomass: dry or wet.
300,000 years ago, we already used biomass by burning wood for heating, lighting and cooking. Even today, for almost half of humanity, biomass remains the main, if not the only, Source of energy.
Biomass can be used in different ways: we can burn it to produce heat or electricity, compost it to produce biogas or even transform it into fuel for our cars!
Let’s take a closer look at these three uses of biomass:
Wood energy
As its name suggests, “wood energy” is when wood is burned to produce heat and electricity. It can be used in a house with a small boiler or in a large production plant, this time with a larger boiler. We take pieces of wood, burn them to heat water, and presto! We have heat that can be distributed to different types of buildings. Then, we also take advantage of this hot water to transform it into steam, which turns a sort of large propeller called a “turbine” to produce electricity.
At Romande Energie, we have a power plant called “Enerbois”, located in Gros-de-Vaud, where we add even more value to wood in addition to producing heat and electricity: we use wood “waste” that the neighboring sawmill cannot use. We turn them into small pieces called “pellets”, which can be burned to produce heat and electricity! This is great because it helps us reduce our impact on nature by using local wood that would otherwise go to waste.
Biogas
Biogases are gases that come from the decomposition of living things. The latter “rot” in large machines called “digesters”, sort of large tanks which recover the biogas. They are then burned to produce electricity or heat. These machines are often on farms, because what does not become biogas can be used as fertilizer for plants!
Organic plant or animal matter or even water purification sludge are transformed into biogas by a “digester” also called a “biogas reactor” or “methanizer”.
DR
Biofuels
Biofuels are used to power vehicles. There are two types of biofuels: gasoline (called “ethanol”) and diesel. They can be used in vehicles alone or mixed with fossil fuels, such as petroleum.
To make biofuel, plants rich in sugar or starch (such as beets, sugar cane, corn, etc.) are left to ferment. The juice resulting from this fermentation is then distilled to become ethanol. Diesel biofuel is also made from plants, but this time, rich in oil, such as soya, sunflower flowers or rapeseed. The seeds are pressed to extract the oil they contain, which is then processed for use in a diesel engine.
And you, do you have plans for when you will use biomass next? A barbecue with your friends for the sunny days? Further proof that energy is in our daily lives without us noticing it!”
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