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Biomass
 Biomass can be used for fuels, power production, and products that would otherwise be made from fossil fuels. Wood is the largest biomass renewable energy resource today but other sources of biomass can also be used. Other sources include food crops, grassy and woody plants, and the organic component of municipal and industrial wastes. Even the fumes from landfills can be used as a biomass energy source. Next to hydropower, more electricity is generated from biomass than any other renewable energy resource in the United States. The 2005 Energy Act mandated that 250 million gallons of ethanol be produced from cellulose materials by 2012.
Biomass can be used as a solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gaseous forms, for the production of electric power, heat, chemicals, or fuels. By integrating a variety of biomass conversion processes, all of these products can be made in one facility, called a biorefinery. The biorefinery concept is analogous to today's petroleum refineries, which produce multiple fuels and products from petroleum.
Biomass does have some disadvantages, for example, it can pollute the air when it is burned, though not as much as fossil fuels. When burned, biomass does release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, however, when biomass crops are grown, a nearly equivalent amount of carbon dioxide is captured through photosynthesis. Deforestation is another disadvantage being that wood, at this point, is the largest source for biomass fuel. However; paper mill residue and lumber mill scrap is substituted in order to diminish the destruction of forests. Many manufacturing plants in the wood and paper products industry use wood waste to produce their own steam and electricity.
The use of biomass energy has the potential to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve our air quality, and support rural economies. Biomass also supports our agricultural and industrial industries by utilizing and recycling waste products. Additionally, using biomass residues rather than disposing of them in landfills can also reduce a major land use problem and if using municipal and industrial waste as means of energy, urban areas would benefit a great deal because of the amount of waste produced and ultimately needing to be recycled. Biomass usage would also benefit agricultural and rural areas because food and wood crops need to be grown and sold, thereby helping rural economies.
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