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A wide range of alternative sources of energy can be produced owing to using biomass to make biofuels. There are a wide selection of wood fuel products which can be referred to as biofuels. Wood can be processed in to gaseous, liquid in addition to solid forms of fuel. Gaseous biomass biofuels can be used to power generators to create electricity, or burned directly to generate warmth. Liquid wood biofuels can be produced to be used as transportation fuels, for cars as well as even jet fuel for planes. Biomass liquid biofuels can be created from corn, rape seed and algae to name but a few. On the other hand, yields from algae production are much more productive than corn for instance, and do not impact on food prices. Wood can also be processed into solid biofuels such as pellets. Pellets are predominantly used as a heating fuel for homes as well as businesses. On the other hand biomass is also often processed into pellets to be transported to additional process plants, to be constructed into liquid or gaseous biofuels. The reasons for this are that much more wood can be transported per time due to the increased density of the pellets. Therefore this also reduces the shipping costs of moving wood.

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As shown, wood can be manufactured into a range of biofuels, yet pellets are often at the start of all wood biofuel processes. A pellet is simply a compressed form of the wood. Owing to compression an increased bulk and energy density is achieved. Also, during the pellet construction process, most of the water from the wood is removed during drying. This gives the pellets a much higher calorific heat value. By way of a lower moisture content in addition to increased density means pellets burn much more efficiently than the original wood matter.

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In a compressed pellet form, the biomass can be used in modern plus advanced solid energy pellet combustion systems. Pellet stoves in addition to pellet boilers can use pellet energy in a highly automated fashion, to make minimal maintenance by way of maximum efficiency. Automated pellet burners have a hopper which can hold at least a days worth of fuel. Because of computer control of an auger feed system, the correct number of pellets to reach the required heat can be fed into the burn chamber. Therefore pellet stoves in addition to pellet boilers can be restricted via thermostat. To make wood biofuels such as energy pellets, requires a combination of skills, experience, apparatus knowledge plus the right tools. Each piece of pellet construction tools is suited to different raw materials. Matter density plays a large role in the type of tools that can be used. For example there is a difference in density of say wheat grass and hardwood. Owing to this difference in density, only some pellet mills can actually process biomass into pellet energy, where others simply don’t have adequate power, or operate at the incorrect speed. Supplementary factors such as moisture play a key role. Even a half a percent change in moisture can result power consumption by around 30%, which does add up.

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