Things To Know:  Biomass is a term for anything containing organic matter.  This matter has numerous carbon-hydrogen chains that can be harnessed for energy.  Sand, steel and the big three "fossil" fuels are about the only things that don't qualify as biomass, please see:  http://www.eere.energy.gov/RE/bio_resources.html.  There are approximately 6 major avenues to utilize the energy content of biomass.  These include, 1) ordinary combustion, 2) gasification/pyrolysis, 3) steam reformation/supercritical water reformation, 4) bio-oil extraction, 5) fermentation, and 6) anaerobic digestion.  To digress for a moment, environmentalists who've advocated a "don't touch" forestry policy should now take lessons from the recent years of extreme forest fires consuming vast stands of forests.  Even if a fraction of the woodlands now reduced to cinders were thinned and subsequently used to fuel biomass energy production, billions of dollars could have been saved, houses would have survived, fewer firefighters and fire victims would be dead, the politically sensitive CO₂ emissions could've been drastically reduced, and we would be that much closer to energy independence, were it not for this tragic waste.  We know we have considerable amounts of biomass out there and we could have more through institutionalizing biomass growth programs.  A recent report claims the U.S. will sustain annual billion ton harvests:  http://feedstockreview.ornl.gov/pdf/billion_ton_vision.pdf.   Even though this is probably a low estimate, it would still be well suited to provide for the methanol transformation.  Of course, biomass is more than just trees.  Cow manure, grass clippings, the garbage, and even human waste could be harnessed for substantial energy production.  Does anyone seriously believe we'll have a problem running out of garbage and manure anytime soon? http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/solidwastesummary.htm

Gasification and Steam Reformation:  These two techniques are some of the most interesting and perhaps the most promising methods of deriving energy from biomass.  To be thorough, gasification is a process in which combustibles are thermally broken down in an oxygenated environment.  Pyrolysis is a process that thermally breaks down combustibles in an oxygen depraved environment.  Steam reformation uses super hot steam under immense pressure to thermally de-polymerize combustibles.  Supercritical water reformation is a process in which super critical water is used to immerse and gasify combustibles.  When properly designed for and well implemented, all of these processes produce gas in the form of hydrogen or methane and carbon oxides. 

The above processes will be critical to achieving energy independence as they have the ability to efficiently produce methane or hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which are the ingredients for synthesizing methane.  In fact, the methanol transformation will not be possible without these technologies being fully utilized.  More information can be gleaned from the following websites:

Excellent resources for gasification:  a) http://www.gasification.org/   b) http://www.emeryenergy.com/  c) http://bgg.mek.dtu.dk/  d)  http://www.btgworld.com/technologies/gasification.html  of notable worth is the following site run by independent experts: e) http://www.woodgas.com/index.htm  f) http://www.thermogenics.com/ g) http://www.prmenergy.com/

Resources for pyrolysis:  a) http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pyrolysis.html b) http://www.fao.org/docrep/T4470E/t4470e0a.htm  c) http://www.pyne.co.uk/

Resources for the perhaps promising future of Steam Reformation:  To start off, please be introduced to a somewhat eccentric scientist.  This man named Peter currently lives in Belize and makes medicinal coconut oil: http://turneffecoconut.com/, the link to an online conversation of his gives a particularly good intro to steam reformation: http://listserv.repp.org/pipermail/gasification/2001-April/005636.html.   a) http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/factsheets/fy04/pulsed_black_liquor_reformer.pdf b) http://www.tri-inc.net/solution.htm

Resources for Super Critical Water Reformation:  if you have the time to download, this hydrogen from waste oil item is particularly good a) http://media.fsec.ucf.edu/  b) http://www.mmc.co.jp/english/environment/kankyo23.html c) now available: http://www.changingworldtech.com/what/index.asp.  With apologies for causing any confusion, a similar process is also available using plasma air as the medium.  In this process oils and ethanol can be reformed into similar product gases: http://psfcwww2.psfc.mit.edu/library/03JA/03JA028/03JA028_full.pdf

It is worth noting that carbon monoxide by virtue of its electro-chemical make up is far more valuable to the methanol transformation than is carbon dioxide.  Since gasification and pyrolysis can release both carbon monoxide and dioxide, there needs to be a focus on converting carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide.  This website shows such a process: http://www.caloric.com/cms/front_content.php?idcat=34&lang=1&client=1

Biodiesel:  Biodiesel is a diesel fuel made from plant and even animal fat extracts and is more or less just as good as the real deal.   The primary advantage that this fuel offers is that it is interchangeable with the petroleum derivative, but can be made right here in the USA.  It also burns cleaner and improves engine maintenance given its superior lubricity characteristics.  As America is not afflicted by the curse of starvation at this point in its history, vast quantities of biodiesel could potentially be made from specialized plants or soybeans grown in spare fields.  Unlike corn ethanol, it is possible to get an energy output from biodiesel four times greater than the energy invested for its creation.  More information on this topic can be acquired from the following web sites: http://www.biodiesel.org/, 

http://www.biodieselnow.com/  http://www.bestbiofuels.com/biodiesel.html, http://www.biodiesel.com/  To digress:  This institute very much appreciates the spirit and patriotism of one of our nation's legendary music and movie icons, Mr. Willie Nelson: http://biowillie.com/.  When the history books are written, and long after people forget who the Secretary of Energy was, his name will certainly belong in the forefront of those who've blazed the trail to national energy independence.  However, without significant genetic engineering of oil yielding crops, this transition will be unable to bring us to 100% independence for the diesel market.  Not knowing the climatic parameters of their new 200 gal/acre feed stock: (59 bil gal/year diesel consumption / 127 gal/acre rapeseed oil yield) = approx 725,885 sq miles crop land required.  Lower 48 states equals approx 2,875,000 sq miles total.  This effort does produce net energy and it will help farmers, but we believe it will probably fall short in the goal of producing energy self-sufficiency.  Oil crop yields: http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html

An extremely promising technology that seems to be working is an algae system designed to harness CO2 from smokestacks.  It was developed at MIT and can be examined at the following website: http://www.greenfuelonline.com/