Biomass is all of the organic waste material from agricultural, forest or residential pruning. Unquestionably, it is humanity’s oldest source of energy and is obtained through direct combustion. The main characteristic of biomass is that its cycle is considered to be neutral in terms of emissions, since plants retain the same amount of CO₂ that they release in combustion.

The technology for employing biomass as an inexhaustible source of energy has made significant progress in recent years. Its use has been diversified, both in thermal heating systems and in electricity generation plants.

With respect to thermal use, furnaces now exist with performance levels of around 93%, which furthermore incorporate automatic lighting, exchanger cleaning and ash removal. If these are complemented with remote management systems, which allow remote supervision of the installation, a highly efficient solution is obtained for the thermal needs of any building, whether for public or private use.

Another major performance field making strong headway is electricity generation through plants, using biomass as fuel. This technology combines a biomass furnace with a steam turbine, which is what generates an electricity flow. The electricity generated into the grid through an evacuation point is similar to that of a conventional fossil fuel installation.

Here it must be said that Spain generates a large amount of agricultural and forest pruning residue throughout all of its autonomous regions. Biomass has the potential to reduce Spain’s energy dependence on petroleum-producing countries and fluctuating fuel prices.