September 22, 2023 Switching to Biomass Heating
Is Biomass Carbon Neutral?
Biomass already qualifies as a carbon-neutral fuel source and is treated as such by government bodies, the renewable heat incentive scheme and it is included in the list of renewable and carbon-neutral fuel sources in most articles referencing greener, cleaner energy options.
But what actually makes it carbon neutral?
ABOUT CARBON
Carbon is widely held to be the primary driver of global warming, it is released into the atmosphere whenever anything is burned and convers into carbon dioxide which acts as an insulator over the planet, effectively trapping heat and causing temperature rises.
It is also released by us when we breathe, in fact it is intrinsically woven into the fabric of life. Every single form of life ever discovered is carbon based. When animals respire, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as do their bodies when they die. In effect it is being constantly and endlessly produced and released into the air.
Plant life, which is also carbon based, takes in carbon, both in the form of carbon dioxide in the air but also absorbing carbon through their roots. This is why ash is such a good fertiliser, it is effectively pure carbon being absorbed into the earth and taken up by plants.
Little tip here – you can use the ash produced by your biomass boiler as fertiliser!
The sea and sea plant life also absorbs carbon in vast quantities.
CARBON BALANCE
As we have already established carbon is not our enemy, it is in fact completely necessary and vital to all life on our planet. The key, as with almost everything in nature, is balance. Too much carbon in the atmosphere will not be good for us. If you have ever seen a volcano erupting that huge column of smoke rising from it is almost entirely made up of carbon. You do not need much of an imagination to understand what the world would be like if there was too much of that going on. Of course, 99% of carbon in the atmosphere is held in carbon dioxide which is invisible to us.
A lack of carbon in the atmosphere would have an equally disastrous effect, trees and plants would die, the sea would become more acidic and large amounts of sea life would die too, worse still the insulation qualities of carbon dioxide would plunge global temperatures to lethal lows. Life as we know it would largely end.
The key therefore is to find a balance. We do not want too much carbon, or too little. There is a balance in nature, a cycle that has found a rhythm that allows us all to survive. It is maintaining that which is most important.
HOW IT BIOMASS HELPING?
You could be forgiven for thinking, well biomass is the burning of wood, therefore surely burning it only releases more carbon into the atmosphere?
It is indeed correct that biomass is burning wood. However, the secret lies in the sustainability of its production. The majority of biomass fuel in the UK and Europe is created by harvesting sustainably managed and replanted forests. This produces a near constant cycle of trees which absorb carbon as they grow, taking in as much carbon as is produced from the burning of the fuel.
This therefore maintaining the balance. The more biomass fuel could be utilised across the world the more this balance would be redressed and the more carbon neutral our energy production would be.
In effect, biomass is carbon neutral because the trees from which it is made absorb the carbon that its burning produces. The net effect being no more or less carbon being left in the atmosphere.
FREE HEATING SURVEY
If you are looking to reduce your reliance on fossil fuels and would like to find out more about biomass, please contact us today. Or why not arrange a free heating survey?
