Biopower is electricity generated from a broad assortment of biomass (natural substances found in wood, plants, agricultural waste, and other materials). Biomass is a baseload renewable energy supply that is readily available with power plant operations, which makes it more reliable than wind and solar for electricity generation. Biomass also supplies a renewable energy solution in areas where renewable sources aren't as readily available.

Biopower is one means that lets each participating country meet federal goals for using clean, renewable energy while boosting economic growth. A flourishing, sustainable biopower power plant or industry might offer the following:

clean, domestic, renewable energy;
revitalize rural markets;
decrease impacts on the climate and environment;
encourage healthy forests; and
produce distinct project opportunities with agribusinesses, utility, and power plant vendors, owners/operators, gear providers, and small companies.

There are six primary types of biopower systems: direct-fired, cofiring, gasification, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and small, modular.

Direct-fired systems in biopower plants are commonly used the most. They burn bioenergy feedstocks to produce steam directly. The steam generated is then converted into electricity by driving a turbine through it. Some industries use this steam in other processes, such as manufacturing or heat buildings. For example, wood waste at paper mills is often used to generate steam and electricity, as well.

Coal-fired power plants run on cofiring systems and are known to reduce emissions, especially sulfur dioxide emissions significantly. Cofiring can be understood as using bioenergy feedstocks as a supplementary energy source in high-efficiency boilers.

Gasification systems use high temperatures and also oxygen-starved surroundings to convert biomass into a gas (a combination of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane). The gas fuels what is called a gas turbine, which is very much like a jet engine, only it turns out an electric generator instead of propelling a jet.

When biomass gets decayed, it produces a gas- methane, that can be further utilized as an energy source. In landfills, numerous wells can be drilled to capture methane, releasing from the decaying organic matter. Pipes from these wells can carry the gas from one point to another for cleaning it before it burns. However, methane can also be produced from biomass through anaerobic digestion. The process involves employing bacteria to decompose organic matter in the absence of oxygen.

In most facilities, methane is burned as an energy source to produce steam for industrial processes. Two of the most modern process includes fuel cells and microturbines. Fuel cells operate similar to a battery but don't require any type of recharging. They effectively produce electricity as long as there's fuel. On the contrary, microturbines can effectively have outputs of 25 to 500 kilowatts.

Pyrolysis is yet another process that occurs in the absence of oxygen. With this process, the biomass is obtained in liquid form called pyrolysis oil, which can be burned like petroleum to generate electricity.

Further, numerous biopower technologies can be used in small, modular systems. Small, modular systems have potential as distributed energy resources. Here, distributed energy resources relate to a variety of small, modular power-generating technologies that can be consolidated to enhance the performance of the electricity delivery system.