What is the Difference Between Biomass & Biogas?
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The main difference between biomass and biogas is that biomass is a solid material, whereas biogas is a gaseous compound created through the process of Anaerobic Digestion. Biogas and biomass are two types of biofuels.
But, what are biofuels?
What are biofuels?
The term ‘biofuel’ can be broken into two parts, ‘bio’ and ‘fuel’. ‘Bio’ means ‘life’, and ‘fuel’ is a material that can be burned or broken down to provide energy.
So, biofuels are materials that were once alive, like plant materials or wood from trees, and can be used as fuel for generating heat or energy.
They come under zero-carbon fuel types.
What are zero-carbon fuels?
As we know, fuels burn in the presence of oxygen in an exothermic reaction to produce carbon dioxide and water.
All that is a fancy way of saying they burn in the presence of oxygen to produce heat. In the process of combustion, they also produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and water.
Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. So, burning fuels can lead to more carbon dioxide production, which can then affect the climate.
However, carbon-zero fuels are those that absorbed an equivalent amount (or more) of CO2 during their lifetimes. For example, trees take in CO2 in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll and convert it into oxygen and sugar.
So, if you’re burning wood from a tree, it’s a zero-carbon fuel as the wood essentially gives out the CO2 the tree absorbed when it was alive.
But, as we discussed earlier, wood isn’t the only biofuel. It does, however, come under the biomass umbrella.
What is biomass?
Biomass is the collective name given to solid biofuels. It typically comes from crop waste, wood, and specific resources that have been grown to create energy through burning in the presence of oxygen.
Biomass energy is the use of biomass as an energy source. With biomass energy, biomass is burned or converted to make heat, electricity, or liquid fuel.
What is biogas?
Biogas is a form of renewable energy. It is created as a direct result of transforming organic waste into energy and is an environmentally friendly way of doing it.
As the name suggests, It is a biofuel that is gaseous in form. It is an end product of the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process, where organic waste, including food waste, is transformed into energy in the absence of oxygen.
So, how does recycling food waste benefit your business?
In addition to helping your business save money on waste disposal, recycling food waste helps build up your green credentials. The business has fewer greenhouse gases to report and has less of an impact on the environment.
And, whilst being known for being an environmentally-friendly business might not seem important, it can help improve the perception of your customers.
Plus, the process of reducing waste helps you manage your resources better, leading to savings all around.
Using the expert knowledge of teams within the food waste recycling industry, your business will gain regulatory, commercial, and engineering support from the renewables sector.
There is a range of food waste materials that can be recycled as part of the AD process across several anaerobic digestion plants across the UK, from food waste to oils and fats.
Your business can be well-placed to provide a truly useful link between the anaerobic digestion sector and the food industry enabling more environmentally and commercially focused processes.
If you’re interested in recycling your food waste sustainably, get in touch with us about your requirements.
