BIOMASS POWER PLANT – TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

1. Alternative Fuels – those that don’t involve fossil fuels, like solar, wind power and
biomass
2. Anaerobic Digestion - degradation of organic matter by microbes in the absence of
oxygen to produce methane and carbon dioxide
3. Biobased Product - any product such as fuels, chemicals, building materials, electric
power or heat that can be industrially produced from biomass
4. Biochar – solid residue of pyrolysis containing carbon and minerals
5. Biochemical Conversion - the use of fermentation or anaerobic digestion to produce
fuels and chemicals from organic sources
6. Biodiesel - renewable, biodegradable fuel derived from agricultural plant oils or animal
fats, and can be used alone or blended with petroleum diesel fuel in diesel engines
7. Bioenergy – energy forms derived from the production, conversion, and use of material
directly or indirectly produced by photosynthesis (including organic waste) to
manufacture fuels and substitutes for petrochemical and other energy-intensive products
8. Bioethanol - ethanol produced from biomass
9. Biofuel - fuel derived from biomass
10. Biogas - gaseous mixture of carbon dioxide and methane produced by the anaerobic
digestion of organic matter
11. Bioheat - heat energy generated from biomass sources
12. Biomass - any organic matter that is available on a renewable basis, including
agricultural crops, agricultural wastes and residues, wood and wood wastes and residues,
animal wastes, municipal wastes, and aquatic plants
13. Biomass Energy - energy produced by the conversion of biomass directly to heat, or to a
liquid or gas that can be converted to energy
14. Biomass Fuel - biomass converted directly to energy, or converted to liquid or gaseous
fuels such as ethanol, methanol, methane, and hydrogen
15. Bio-oil – a product of pyrolysis or liquefaction of biomass; it is a dark brown, partially
water-miscible liquid which contains oxygenated organic compounds
16. Biopower - electricity from biomass or intermediate bioproducts
17. Biorefinery - facility that processes and converts biomass into value-added products
18. Carbonization - conversion of organic material into carbon or a carbon-containing
residue through pyrolysis
19. Char - residue resulting from pyrolysis, carbonization, and gasification of biomass
20. Co-Firing - simultaneous use of two or more different fuels in the same combustion
chamber of a power plant; generally refers to co-burning coal and biomass
21. Co-Gasification - simultaneous use of coal and treated/ untreated biomass in the
gasification process to produce syngas
22. Combustion - rapid oxidation, with the release of energy in the form of heat and light
23. Dedicated Energy Crop - is an agricultural crop that has been planted for the specific
purpose of serving as a feedstock for bioenergy production
24. Drop-in Fuel - synthetic gasoline or diesel or jet fuel prepared from biomass that is
completely interchangeable or compatible with the conventional fuels
25. Energy Crop - crop grown specifically for its fuel value
26. Environmentally Friendly – means anything from recycling, reducing carbon footprint,
and others that doesn’t damage the environment
27. Ethanol - colorless volatile flammable liquid (C2H5OH) widely used in industrial
processes, as a solvent, as a fuel, and in alcoholic beverages
28. Feedstocks - any biomass resource destined for conversion to energy, or to another form
such as fuel or bioproducts. For example, corn is a feedstock for ethanol production.
Soybean oil may be a feedstock for biodiesel, or a feedstock for bioproducts such as inks,
paints, coatings and other bioproducts
29. Fermentation - biochemical reaction that breaks down complex organic molecules (such
as carbohydrates) into simpler materials (such as ethanol, carbon dioxide, and water). For
example, bacteria or yeasts can ferment sugars to ethanol
30. Fossil fuel - fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal formed in the ground over millions of
years by chemical and physical changes in plant and animal residues under high
temperature and pressure
31. Fouling – the coating of heat transfer surfaces in heat exchangers such as boiler tubes
caused by deposition of ash particles
32. Fuel Cell - device that converts the energy of a fuel directly to electricity and heat,
without combustion
33. Fungible Fuels - fuels such as ethanol, butanol etc. made from biomass which has
chemical similarities with conventional fuels such as gasoline and can be blended and
used in the existing engines
34. Gasification - the high temperature process to decompose the complex hydrocarbons of
biomass into simpler gaseous molecules, primarily hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and
carbon dioxide
35. Gasifier - device which converts hydrocarbon feedstock into gaseous components via
thermochemical process
36. Green – another term for environmentally aware, and acting to protect the environment
37. Greenhouse Gases - gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, which trap the heat of the
sun in the earth’s atmosphere, producing what is commonly known as the greenhouse
effect
38. Incinerator - any device used to burn solid or liquid residues or wastes as a method of
disposal
39. Landfill – accumulated waste that can’t be recycled or turned into bioenergy, which is
then buried and covered over with soil
40. Liquefaction - thermochemical conversion process of carbon-rich feedstocks into a
liquid bio-oil and coproducts; it is usually conducted in an environment of moderate
temperatures (300 to 400 oC or 572 to 752 oF) and elevated pressures
41. Methane (CH4) - the major component of natural gas; it can be formed by anaerobic
digestion of biomass or gasification of coal or biomass
42. Municipal Solid Waste - a waste stream consisting of post-consumer materials
43. Particulates - fine liquid or solid particle such as dust, smoke, mist, fumes, or smog,
found in air or emissions
44. Pretreatment - biological, chemical, physical, physico-chemical processing of biomass
to reduce biomass recalcitrance to conversion
45. Primary Biomass - biomass produced by agriculture and forestry and includes energy
crops and agricultural crops such as short rotation trees, grasses and aquatic plants
46. Pyrolysis – the breaking apart of complex molecules by heating in the absence of
oxygen, producing solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels
47. Renewable Energy – energy derived from a natural, managed or cultivated resource that
can be replaced as it is used. Examples are wind, solar, hydro, biomass or geothermal
sources
48. Residues - byproducts from processing all forms of biomass that have significant energy
potential
49. Syngas - synthetic gas composed of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that is obtained by
gasification of biomass when oxygen is fed to the reactor, and which can be transformed
to fuels, products, power and hydrogen
50. Torrefaction – a pretreatment method where biomass is subjected to moderate heating
(200-300 oC) in a low oxygen environment

REFERENCES

 Glossary of Bioenergy Terms. Accessed (2019, July 27). Retrieved from

https://bioenergy-for-business.org/why-bioenergy/glossary-of-bioenergy-terms/
 Erichsen, Amanda. Accessed (2019, July 27). Glossary of Bioenergy Terms. Retrieved
from http://www.okepscor.org/glossary-bioenergy-terms/glossary-bioenergy-
terms