ABSTRACT
The overall impacts of bioenergy systems may be less damaging to the environment than those of conventional fossil fuels, since they produce many, but local and relatively small, impacts on their surrounding environment, compared with fewer but much larger impacts, distributed over greater areas for fossil fuels. All bioenergy systems, like any other energy systems, result in some environmental impacts. One of the most important characteristics of traditional biomass systems is their very high levels of site specificity. Nevertheless, a few points seem to emerge which seem to be generally valid. The indoor combustion of biomass fuels in traditional settings causes considerable health problems directly to the principal users, who are mainly woman and children. Most wet biomass can be converted into a combustible gas through the anaerobic digestion in a biogas digester. Producer gas is generated by pyrolysis or the partial combustion of biomass, such as wood or various crop residues.
