biomass

noun bio·mass \ ˈbī-ō-ˌmas \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of biomass

1 : the amount of living matter (as in a unit area or volume of habitat)

2 : plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel

Recent Examples of biomass from the Web

Concern over the health of the chinook fishery peaked in recent years as surveys found fewer alewife in the lake, including a record low biomass of adult alewife in 2017, according to bottom trawls conducted by the USGS.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: Lake Michigan chinook and alewife are near the desired balance, a new report says," 28 Mar. 2018
There are tours available of the National Renewable Energy Lab near Denver, where research is under way into sun, wind, biomass, and other forms of power.

— jon marcus, BostonGlobe.com, "Silicon Valley tech giants get on board with tours," 25 Mar. 2018
Two studies recently showed that Europe has lost 80 percent of its flying insect biomass—and 421 million birds.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Pesticides Have Led to a ‘Catastrophic’ Decline in France’s Bird Populations," 22 Mar. 2018
Throw in biomass, and renewable generation climbs above 18 percent.

— john timmer, Ars Technica, "US electricity use drops, renewables push fossil fuels out of the mix," 20 Mar. 2018
Electricity is hard to monopolise because it can be produced from numerous sources of fuel, from natural gas and nuclear to wind, solar, hydro and biomass.

— The Economist, "Welcome an electric world. Worry about the transition," 15 Mar. 2018
Ukraine wants to boost solar, hydro, wind, biomass and biogas output to 11 percent of power generation by 2020, said Yulia Kovaliv, the head of Ukraine’s National Investment Council.

— Time, "Chernobyl Is Now the World’s Unlikeliest Green Energy Experiment," 13 Mar. 2018
Declaring that woody biomass is carbon-neutral was included on the list.

— scott waldman, Scientific American, "EPA's Science Advisory Board Has Not Met in 6 Months," 6 Mar. 2018
The 2017 bottom trawling data showed a total lake-wide prey fish biomass of 13.3 kilotonnes, fourth-lowest on record.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: Alewife hit a record low in Lake Michigan in 2017," 21 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biomass.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of biomass

1931

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Ecology Terms

Malthusian, anthropogenic, carbon footprint, crepuscular, niche, sere, symbiosis, taiga, tundra

Medical Dictionary

biomass

noun bio·mass \ -ˌmas \

medical Definition of biomass

: the amount of living matter (as in a unit area or volume of habitat)

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See words that rhyme with biomass Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about biomass

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biomass

Definition of biomass

Recent Examples of biomass from the Web

First Known Use of biomass

Other Ecology Terms

Medical Dictionary

biomass

medical Definition of biomass

Learn More about biomass

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biomass

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