Biomass Plant Technician

Biomass plants are where trash goes to die, and then be reborn as energy. They turn byproducts from people, plant sources, and alcohol into energy for electricity and heat. It is the job of Biomass Plant Technicians job to keep these plants up and running. As a Biomass Plant Technician, you’re in charge of plant maintenance, repairs, and general operations.

A biomass plant works like this: fuel is brought in and then burned for energy. The fuel used can be human or animal waste, tree waste like woodchips, or alcohols like ethanol. The heat produced gets trapped and then dispersed through pipes to the homes and businesses of customers. A small-scale equivalent is a fireplace. Every time you burn a log to heat a room, you’re making your own tiny biomass plant.

As a Biomass Plant Technician, your job starts when the waste comes in. You assess its quality and amount before it gets burned as fuel. You load it up and then operate the levers, pumps, and other moving parts of the plant to keep waste flowing through the system and energy coming out. Then you keep detailed reports on the amount of energy made and the amount of waste burned, and report these numbers to higher-ups. Periodically, you perform maintenance checks on the plant machinery. And when you discover something is broken or needs to be replaced, you fix it. You also keep an eye on inventory, making sure that supplies are always stocked, and ordering more if you need to.