A Biomass strategy

It has been estimated that the annual net yield of plant biomass arising from photosynthesis is at least 120 billion tonnes of dry matter on land and around 50 billion tonnes from the world's oceans. Of the land-produced biomass, approximately 50% occurs in the complex form of lignocellulose.

The highest proportion of land-based biomass (44%) is produced as forest (Table 2.1). It is surprising to note that while agricultural crops account for only 6% of the primary photosynthetic productivity, from this amount is derived a major portion of food for humans and animals as well as many essential structural materials, textiles and paper products (Table 2.2). Many traditional agricultural products may well be further exploited with the increasing awareness of biotechnology. In particular, new technological approaches will undoubtedly be able to utilise the large volume of waste material from conventional food processing that presently finds little use.

Biomass agriculture, aquaculture and forestry may hold great economic potential for many national economies particularly in tropical and subtropical regions (Fig. 2.1). Indeed, the development of biotechnological processes in developing areas where plant growth excels could well bring about a change in the balance of economic power.

It should be noted that the non-renewable energy and petrochemical feedstocks on which modern society is so dependent (oil, gas and coal) were derived from ancient types of biomass.