Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing.Fact: date=February 2007

Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass, they are not considered biomass by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Their combustion therefore disturbs the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.

Plastics from biomass, like some recently developed to dissolve in seawater, are made the same way as petroleum-based plastics. These plastics are actually cheaper to manufacture and meet or exceed most performance standards, but they lack the same water resistance or longevity as conventional plastics.

Environmental impact

Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon from the atmosphere is converted into biological matter by photosynthesis. On combustion the carbon goes into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO₂). This happens over a relatively short timescale and plant matter used as a fuel can be replaced by planting for new growth. Therefore a reasonably stable level of atmospheric carbon results from its use as a fuel.Fact: date=May 2009 It is accepted that the amount of carbon stored in dry wood is approximately 50% by weight.

Though biomass is a renewable fuel, its use can still contribute to global warming. This happens when the natural carbon equilibrium is disturbed; for example by deforestation or urbanization of green sites. When biomass is used as a fuel, as a replacement for fossil fuels, it still puts the same amount of CO₂ into the atmosphere. However, when biomass is used for energy production it is widely considered carbon neutral, or a net reducer of greenhouse gases because of the offset of methane that would have otherwise entered the atmosphere. The carbon in biomass material, which makes up approximately fifty percent of its dry-matter content, is already part of the atmospheric carbon cycle. Biomass absorbs CO₂ from the atmosphere during its growing lifetime, after which its carbon reverts to the atmosphere as a mixture of CO₂ and methane (CH₄), depending on the ultimate fate of the biomass material. CH₄ converts to CO₂ in the atmosphere, completing the cycle.

Energy produced from feces residues displaces the production of an equivalent amount of energy from fossil fuels, leaving the fossil carbon in storage. It also shifts the composition of the recycled carbon emissions associated with the disposal of the biomass residues from a mixture of CO₂ and CH₄, to almost exclusively CO₂. In the absence of energy production applications, biomass residue carbon would be recycled to the atmosphere through some combination of rotting (biodegradation) and open burning. Rotting produces a mixture of up to fifty percent CH₄, while open burning produces five to ten percent CH₄. Controlled combustion in a power plant converts virtually all of the carbon in the biomass to CO₂. Because CH₄ is a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO₂, shifting CH₄ emissions to CO₂ by converting biomass residues to energy significantly reduces the greenhouse warming potential of the recycled carbon associated with other fates or disposal of the biomass residues.