Outreach in Biotechnology

material derived from plants, animals, and their byproducts. The carbon used to make biomass is absorbed from the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO₂) by photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae, using energy from the sun. (Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas are also derived from biological material; however, this material absorbed CO₂ from the atmosphere many millions of years ago.) See also feedstocks, biofuels.