Issues related to the emissions of greenhouse gases, lack of fossil natural resources and the increasing price of fuels have progressively encouraged research and adoption of new technological strategies for energy production from renewable sources and application of waste-to-energy (WTE), waste-to-gas (WTG) and waste-to-hydrogen (WTH2) concepts. Syngas obtained from gasification of biomass and wastes constitutes an interesting resource for materials manufacture, biofuels production and energy generation because it has lower impacts for the environment compared to traditional technologies and allows for the valorization of waste residues as feedstock. Forest residues and municipal solid wastes are the major sources of biomass energy of interest. On the other hand, thermal gasification technology allows a very low environmental impact due to an easy control and minimization of gaseous, solid and liquid emissions. This book presents the scope, potential and technologies related to the use of biomass resources with a focus on thermal gasification processes, involving topics such as: Principles of thermal gasification principles; Gasification of raw materials; Types of gasification reactors; Water gas shift and methanation reactions; Gas cleaning technologies; Application of gasification ashes; Gasification process economics.
Keywords: biomass; wastes energetic valorisation; thermal gasification.