Bioenergy - what is it and what can we use it for?

Being able to heat your home is a prerequisite for us to live in our northern latitudes. However, to achieve climate goals, we all need to help reduce our environmental impact. By heating your house with bioenergy (for example, with biofuel like pellets), you can often reduce both your carbon footprint and your heating costs. So what is bioenergy exactly, and what can it be used for? What are the advantages and potential disadvantages of heating systems powered by bioenergy? We'll answer these questions in the following text.

What is bioenergy?

The energy extracted from biofuel is called bioenergy. More specifically, the energy is chemically stored solar energy that has been bound by biomass through photosynthesis. When plants die, they release energy that we can harness. Biofuels are carbon-neutral. This means that the carbon dioxide emissions produced during combustion are equal to the amount absorbed during its growth phase in nature.

So how does it work?

By binding various forms of biomass through photosynthesis, we can create energy, that is, bioenergy. Energy from light is stored in chemical bonds through photosynthesis. Living organisms handle the work. This energy is used for heating properties, generating electricity, or as fuel for vehicles.

Nature is truly incredible. Plants use the sun's energy to grow while absorbing carbon dioxide from the air. When trees are cut down for use as timber or raw materials in production, some of the trees remain in nature or at sawmills and in the forestry industry. These residues are then used to create biofuels, which in turn generate bioenergy.

What are the advantages of biofuel?

One of the biggest advantages of bioenergy is that its production has no impact on the atmosphere's carbon dioxide levels. This is because the fuel is carbon-neutral. This is important as we should do everything we can to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Compared to heating with oil boilers or direct electric heating, bioenergy is a very clean energy source.

Another major advantage of bioenergy is the fact that it is a renewable energy source. This means that the energy comes from sources that are constantly renewed naturally and therefore never run out.

By harnessing this energy, we can utilize by-products from the forestry industry that would otherwise go to waste. This can include branches, twigs, bark, and shavings.

We can reduce greenhouse gas levels by planting new trees. This way, we work towards climate change. At the same time, we produce new biomaterials that emit bioenergy. These can eventually replace fossil raw materials. Newly planted trees grow much faster than older trees. Therefore, they also absorb more carbon dioxide. By planting new trees, we can extract even more climate-friendly energy.

Are there disadvantages to bioenergy?

As with anything else, there are of course disadvantages to bioenergy. However, these are few, and some can be solved if we learn to produce fuel in a more gentle way.

For example, large-scale production of biofuel can displace natural biotopes and create large areas of homogenous land, thus reducing local biodiversity. However, much of the production today consists of residues. These can also be found in sustainable forestry where the land area is not negatively affected.

Transportation and energy production can be energy-intensive and less sustainable in some cases. Here, we must think climate-smart and make sustainable choices. Such as powering vehicles with biofuels.

Different sources for energy extraction

There are several different types of sources for biomass (a renewable energy source) used in bioenergy production.

For example, it can be produced from energy crops. These crops do not provide any benefit to us humans. Except, of course, that they are important producers of biomass. That's why we use these plant species in bioenergy production.

As mentioned earlier, bioenergy is also obtained from forest utilization. This means that surplus forest residues contribute to the production of sustainable energy. It is in this process that wood pellets for burning are created.

A third source is the use of industrial process waste. This type of waste can come from carpentry, sawmills, or factories that use wood as a raw material.

There are more types of bioenergy than those mentioned above

At Ulma, we specialize in heating through pellet burning and wood burning in pellet boilers with pellet burners, pellet stoves, or wood stoves. But there are also many other types of biofuel and thus different types of bioenergy to extract.

Here are some examples of bioenergy:

• Household waste of biological origin. This can include paper, textiles, and bioplastics, which can be burned to generate electricity and heat.
• Biofuels that produce electricity in power plants or combined heat and power plants.
• Biogas produced from manure or food waste. Something used to generate electricity or power cars and buses.
• Straw burned in a straw boiler for heating.
• Wood used for cooking and heating buildings and for hot water.
• Wood chips used in district heating plants.
• Bark and shavings used for timber drying at sawmills.
• Ethanol and biodiesel for cars, from crops or forest raw materials.
• Bio-oil replacing heating oil or propane in oil boilers and burners.
• Wood-fired sauna and tiled stoves.
• Charcoal for cooking.

If you have any questions about our products or pellet burning, you are warmly welcome to contact us. Under our section of frequently asked questions and answers, you can also read more about pellets as bioenergy.

Also read: Biofuel - an environmentally friendly and cost-effective choice