The term biomass is used to refer to organic material as a whole, be it of vegetable or animal origin, and the materials which result from transforming it either naturally or artificially.
Biomass includes waste from farming and livestock-breeding activities and the by-products of agricultural and foodstuff companies, as well as wood-transformation industries. The term also includes the so-called energy crops for producing ligno-cellulose biomass to be used as fuel or turned into gas.
Cogeneration is a highly-efficient energy-production system which uses solid, liquid or gas fuels (renewable energies or fossil fuels) mainly for the purpose of attending to the demand for various kinds of energy: heat, useful cooling, electro-mechanical energy.
All the cycles applied with other fuels can also, generally speaking, be used for cogeneration using biomass as a fuel: Rankine cycle (steam boiler and turbogenerator), alternative internal combustion engines, gas turbine (the latter with liquid or gas biomass), etc.
By the end of 2008, more than 6,000 MWe cogeneration and 600 MWe biomass had been installed (not including MSW).
ALTERMIA has successfully advised developers, investors and financial institutions on national and international biofuel projects. Our references show our track record: in excess of 250 MWe.