Fossil fuels are currently the driving force behind the industrialized and developing economies and they have continued to dominate the energy market; with oil contributing about 41.3%, gas about 22.4%, coal about 26.1% while the contribution of hydro, nuclear and other minor out-crops amount to about 10.3%. However, the fossil fuels are not only exhaustible; they are already showing signs of depletion. This work identifies a number of highly regenerative grasses, weeds, leaves; farm and forest wastes as an alternative source of renewable energy. The potentialities of the materials as viable energy resources were investigated by determining their combustion characteristics. A burner was constructed and tested by using it to boil a given quantity of water under comparable conditions with other burners. The results showed that the commercial briquette burner boiled the water in 19 minutes, the domestic gas cooker in 18 minutes, the kerosene stove in 30 minutes and the fire place in 30 minutes. The cost estimates of boiling the given quantity of water were also determined. While it cost $0.313 using gas, $0.125 using kerosene, $0.063 using wood, it cost a meagre $0.006 to boil the same quantity of water using this alternative renewable energy resource in the designed and constructed burners. One can, therefore, conclude that while biomass may not be able to meet the energy needs of the nation, it can, however, act as a major complimentary energy resource.

Fossil fuels are currently the driving force behind the industrialized and developing economies and they have continued to dominate the energy market; with oil contributing about 41.3%, gas about 22.4%, coal about 26.1% while the contribution of hydro, nuclear and other minor out-crops amount to ...