Biomass

• Biomass involves growing plants so that they can be burnt, or using decaying plant or animal materials to produce heat
• To reduce the amount of fossil fuels being used, some vegetable oils are treated after being used for cooking. After processing, they're suitable for diesel engines used to power large trucks used for deliveries and for small-scale electricity generation
• Plants such as oilseed rape or willow are grown as biomass crops, and are harvested so they can be burnt in furnaces. This burning to produce heat causes some atmospheric pollution so measures need to be taken to reduce this, although it's not as severe as burning fossil fuels
• The big advantage for biomass is that replacement crops can be grown very quickly to ensure a constant supply. However, the disadvantage is this land could have been used for growing crops for food