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All Power Labs, a company that makes biomass gasifiers, has estimates for the amount of carbon their technology can sequester (http://www.allpowerlabs.com/carbo
by nanomonkey 8y ago
All Power Labs, a company that makes biomass gasifiers, has estimates for the amount of carbon their technology can sequester (http://www.allpowerlabs.com/carbon http://www.allpowerlabs.com/carbon). This appears to be the most viable process forward, as not only can one create a ton of electricity, hot water and air, but also biochar which sequesters carbon in the soil in a beneficial way for an estimated 10k years. (full disclosure, I'm an ex employee).
Equally exciting are the biomass gasifiers that utilize Stirling engines, such as those made by Microgen (http://www.microgen-engine.com/ http://www.microgen-engine.com/) as they are external combustion engines which are quieter and have better runtimes and maintenance cycles.
- jasonlaramburu 8y agoIsn't the challenge that biomass gasification systems require fairly pure feedstock (ie cubes of hardwood)? Has anyone succeeded in developing a feedstock-agnostic gasification system?
- aoner 8y agoYes I think this is one of the bigger problems of these systems. So for example, let's say you've created a device that only accepts rice husk and your device pays itself off in 10 years. Now suddenly your neighboring country is subsidizing the gasification of rice husk. This means that the prices of rice husk increase and you're expected ROI is suddenly changed. This makes investing in these types of devices difficult and unattractive.
- nanomonkey 8y agoThere are more agnostic systems, like fluidized bed gasifiers, but they generally create tar rich gas, which can gum up an internal combustion engine. That's why external combustion engines (Stirling or Steam) are so desirable as the pistons and internal moving parts don't come in contact with the flame front.