Biomass Resources

• Agricultural crops
• Agricultural residues
• Animal waste
• Sugar industry wastes
• Forestry crops
• Forestry residues
• Industrial waste
• Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
• Sewage

Agricultural crops

The agricultural crops that can be grown as energy sources are sugar cane, corn (maize), wheat, sorghum, sunflowers, grape seed (canola) and soya beans. These crops can be converted to liquid fuels such as ethanol.

Agricultural residues

Agricultural residues are the waste products of crop production. Instead of burning, leaving to rot or ploughing the residues back into the soil, the agricultural residue can be used for energy production.

Animal waste

Current animal production provides a good source of animal waste that can be used as a source of biomass energy. Manure from poultry, pigs and cattle can be converted to 'biogas' in anaerobic digestion tanks. Tighter environmental controls, such as the proper disposal of waste, have made waste-to-energy a viable and possibly profitable form of waste management.

Sugar industry wastes

Refining sugar cane produces large amounts of bagasse (sugar cane fibre) that can be burnt to produce steam for electricity generation. Sugar cane mills use the bagasse to generate electricity for their own use. The Rocky Point sugar mill, near Beenleigh in Queensland, will build a 30 MW power plant that will use bagasse for heating. Wood Mulching Industries at Archerfield in Queensland will supply the power plant with non-bagasse fuel during periods outside of the sugar cane season.

Forestry crops

Wood has been used as a source of fuel for thousands of years. Australia has large areas of land, which are not really suitable for agriculture but could support the growth of forests. The forestry crops grown for use as energy can be burnt to generate steam which in turn can be used to generate electricity.

Forestry residues

Forestry residues can be defined as any waste product produced in the clearing, harvesting and processing of wood. These wastes are often burnt or just left to rot. This material can be collected and used as fuel in the production of electricity.

Industrial waste

The food production industry generates large volumes of waste product. These waste products include scraps from fruit and vegetables, food that is not of commercial standard and even the water that is used to carry off the waste material. This material can be used to produce ethanol in a fermentation process or biogas in anaerobic digesters.

Municipal solid waste (MSW)

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is just household waste that is collected by garbage collectors and dumped in landfill or rubbish dumps. This amounts to millions of tonnes of household waste per year.

The waste can be converted to energy by burning or by anaerobic digestion.

Sewage

Energy can be extracted from sewage using anaerobic digestion to produce biogas (methane and carbon dioxide). The biogas can then be used as fuel to produce heat or electricity.