Biomass is plant and animal matter used to make power or heat. Think of wood chips, farm waste, leftover crops, even some animal waste — living stuff, or stuff that was recently alive, burned or turned into gas or fuel. Power stations and some farms talk about biomass this way, as a kind of energy store. It is a technical word; you will meet it in news about energy and the climate, not at the dinner table.

Biomass is plant and animal matter used to make power or heatbiomass（生質）是用來發電或產熱的植物和動物物質。 Think of wood chips, farm waste, leftover crops, even some animal waste想像木屑、農業廢棄物、剩餘的作物、甚至一些動物廢棄物—— living stuff, or stuff that was recently alive, burned or turned into gas or fuel這些活著的東西，或最近才死掉的東西，被燃燒或轉換成氣體或燃料。 Power stations and some farms talk about biomass this way, as a kind of energy store發電廠和一些農場會這樣談論 biomass，把它當成一種能量的儲藏。 It is a technical word它是一個技術性的字； you will meet it in news about energy and the climate, not at the dinner table你會在講能源和氣候的新聞裡遇到它，不會在餐桌上聽到。

Though actually, in ecology the same word also means the total weight of living things in a place — all the trees in a forest, all the fish in a lake — which is how scientists first used it. The energy meaning grew out of that older “living matter” meaning: if it was alive, you can, in principle, use it as fuel. The two sit next to each other, and the sentence around it tells you which one you are in.

Though actually, in ecology the same word also means the total weight of living things in a place不過實際上，在生態學裡，同一個字還有另一個意思：一個地方所有生物的總重量—— all the trees in a forest, all the fish in a lake像一座森林裡所有的樹、一座湖裡所有的魚—— which is how scientists first used it這其實是科學家最早的用法。 The energy meaning grew out of that older "living matter" meaning能源那個意思，就是從這個比較舊的『活的物質』意思長出來的： if it was alive, you can, in principle, use it as fuel只要曾經是活的，原則上都可以拿來當燃料用。 The two sit next to each other這兩個意思彼此靠得很近， and the sentence around it tells you which one you are in要看周圍的句子才能判斷你現在是在哪一個意思裡。