Biomass & System Integration10 / 18
Biomass Boilers & Heating
Wood chips, pellets, carbon neutrality, supply chain, efficiency.
10 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead · Last reviewed July 2026
Biomass burns organic material, wood chips, pellets, agricultural residues, to produce heat. As a renewable it occupies a contested middle ground: low-carbon in principle, but only under the right conditions, and its "renewable" label has to be examined rather than assumed. This lesson covers how biomass heating works, the conditional carbon argument, the air-quality drawback, where it fits, and how it compares with heat pumps.
In this lesson
- 01How biomass heating works
- 02The carbon argument, and its conditions
- 03Air quality
- 04Where biomass fits
- 05Sources and further reading