What is bioenergy?
Bioenergy
is an important form of renewable energy. Bioenergy is heat, electric
power, light or transport fuel that is extracted from biomass.
Biomass
is a term used to describe any organic material. Biomass is effectively
a store of solar energy. During plant or tree growth, energy from the
sun is captured using the process of photosynthesis.
In fact,
biomass in the form of wood has been used by humans as a source of
energy for fires to provide heat and light, for thousands of years.
While this simple use remains popular, woody biomass can also be
utilised as a source of energy for larger-scale commercial and
industrial applications.
As a renewable energy source that can
be grown and used sustainably, burning biomass has zero net greenhouse
effect as the carbon dioxide given off during combustion is absorbed by
the growth of the next crop of biomass.
Bioenergy
provides a real alternative to fossil fuels for many applications. New
Zealand's geography and climate have placed it at the forefront of the
production of food and fibre internationally. This same natural
advantage has a prime role in making New Zealand internationally
competitive for many forms of bioenergy production.
The Bioenergy Association of New Zealand (BANZ) website is a good source of information about bioenergy, and New Zealand's potential in this area.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency (EECA) Bioenergy site contains more introductory information on bioenergy. In particular, they have prepared a printable fact sheet[PDF 613kb] on woody biomass for energy.
The IEA Bioenergy:Short rotation crop website has information on dedicated energy crops including current New Zealand based trials.