Utilization of wood waste in condition of the Slovak Republic

Biomass is a plant matter such as trees, grasses, agricultural crops or other biological material. It can be used as a solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gaseous forms, for the production of electric power, heat, chemicals, or fuels. The use of biomass energy has a potential to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. When burning the biomass, almost the same amount of carbon dioxides released as with fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels release carbon dioxide captured by photosynthesis millions of years ago an essentially 'new' greenhouse gas. The biomass, on the other hand, releases carbon dioxide that is largely balanced by the carbon dioxide captured in its own growth (depending on how much energy was used to grow, harvest, and process the fuel). Biopower, or biomass power, is the use of biomass to generate electricity. Biopower system technologies include direct-firing, cofiring, gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion. Most biopower plants use direct-fired systems. They burn bioenergy feedstocks directly to produce steam. The steam drives turbines, which turn generators, converting the power into electricity. In some biomass industries, the steam spent in the power plant is also used for manufacturing processes or to heat buildings. Such combined heat and power systems greatly increase the overall energy efficiency. Paper mills the largest current producers of biomass power generate the electricity or process the heat as a part of the process for recovering pulping chemicals. (authors)