Although chances are that you have never heard of "biomass" before, it is one of the oldest and most well-established energy sources in the world. Biomass is simply the conversion of stored energy in plants into energy that we can use. Thus, burning wood is a method of producing biomass energy.

If the burning of wood were the only biomass application, then that field of study would not be nearly as interesting as it is. In fact, biomass has many possibilites as a renewable energy source. High energy crops grown specifically to be used as fuel are being developed, and scientists are beginning to consider agricultural and animal waste products as possible fuel sources.