I ve found to answers but i dont know which is right im working on my biology homework The total mass of living matter within a given unit of environmental area.
Plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste used as a fuel or energy source.
Can you please tell me which is right if any thankyou
2007-10-14 08:05:28 · 4 answers · asked by ? 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Biomass refers to living and recently dead biological material which can be used as fuel or for industrial production. Most commonly, biomass refers to plant matter grown for use as biofuel, but it also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibres, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum. It is usually measured by dry weight, and is the total mass of living matter.
The term biomass is useful for plants, where some internal structures may not always be considered living tissue, such as the wood (secondary xylem) of a tree. This biomass became produced from plants that convert sunlight into plant material through photosynthesis.
Sources of biomass energy lead to agricultural crop residues, energy plantations, and municipal and industrial wastes.
Biomass is grown from several plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow and sugarcane.[1] The particular plant used is usually not very important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing.[citation needed]
Though biomass is a renewable fuel, and is sometimes called a "carbon neutral" fuel, its use can still contribute to global warming. This happens when the natural carbon equilibrium is disturbed; for example by deforestation or urbanization of green sites. These activities are termed "carbon leakage".
Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon from the atmosphere is converted into biological matter by photosynthesis. On decay or combustion the carbon goes back into the atmosphere or soil. This happens over a relatively short timescale and plant matter used as a fuel can be constantly replaced by planting for new growth. Therefore a reasonably stable level of atmospheric carbon results from its use as a fuel. It is commonly accepted that the amount of carbon stored in biomass is approximately 50% of the biomass by weight.[2]
Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.
Other uses of biomass, besides fuel:
Building materials
Biodegradable plastics and paper (using cellulose fibres)
Plastics from biomass, like some recently developed to dissolve in seawater, are made the same way as petroleum-based plastics, are actually cheaper to manufacture and meet or exceed most performance standards. But they lack the same water resistance or longevity as conventional plastics.[3]
2007-10-14 15:49:24 · answer #1 · answered by wierdos!!! 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you are studying ecological relationships like food webs, trophic levels, producers and consumers, and ecological pyramids, then the first answer is the one you mean. Biomass in this case is just the total mass of a the living matter in a trophic level in that area. So if the area is a pasture and it were possible to take all of the producers out of the pasture and throw them into a gigantic truck and weigh them, the kg of producers would be the biomass. Likewise, weigh all the herbivores to get the biomass of the primary consumers.
If you are studying alternative fuels, then the second definition is the one you want.
2007-10-14 08:11:59 · answer #2 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Biomass is the total mass of the living matter so you have to get rid of the water inside it and stuff that is not the part of the natural living matter.
2015-05-09 23:52:47 · answer #3 · answered by ¿µÀ¯ 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-05-02 11:41:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋