2. Material that is directly or indirectly produced by photosynthesis and which is utilized as a feedstock in the manufacture of fuels and substitutes for petrochemical and other energy intensive products.
Organic waste from forestry and agriculture, and municipal solid waste are also included in the collaborative research; as well as, broader "system studies" on techno-economic aspects and greenhouse gas balances.
2. The total weight of the organic substance (as plankton) or organisms in a given area; measured as volume, mass (live, dead, dry or ash-free weight) or energy (calories); standing crop.
3. In ecology, a plant material or vegetation that can be converted to useful fuel and that is considered as a potential bioenergy source.
Bioenergy can be produced from solid wood and straw, liquid (biofuels), or gaseous (biogases)."
"Bioenergy may be developed from the quantitative estimate of the entire assemblage of living organisms, both animal and vegetable, of a given habitat, measured in terms of mass, volume, or energy in calories."
Bioenergy ranks second (to hydropower) in renewable primary energy production and accounts for three percent of the primary energy production in the United States.
Biomass offers tremendous opportunities to use domestic and sustainable resources to provide fuel, power, and chemical needs from plants and plant-derived materials; that is, if such production does not interfere with the eating needs of global populations.
The term biomass means any plant derived organic matter available on a renewable basis, including dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crops, agricultural crop wastes and residues, wood wastes and residues, aquatic plants, animal wastes, municipal wastes, and other waste materials.