Bioenergy is renewable energy generated from materials derived from biological sources (also called biomass). Biomass is any organic material that stores sunlight in the form of chemical energy. As a fuel, it may include wood, wood waste, straw, manure, sugarcane and byproducts from a variety of other agricultural processes. There are also agricultural products being grown specifically for bioenergy production. These include corn and soybeans in the US; sugarcane in Brazil; sorghum and cassava in China; and, a plant called ‘jatropha’ grown in India. By 2010, there was 35 GW of installed bioenergy capacity for electricity generation globally, out of which approximately 7 gw was in the US alone.
