Roasted Wood: An Alternative To Coal Energy?
source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112643993
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Utility companies are racing to find alternative fuels to generate electricity, and one possible new source is also one of the oldest: burning wood.
The James River Power Station in Springfield, Mo., has been working with torrefied wood, which looks like dark sawdust. Torrefaction, also known as biochar, is a process of roasting wood chips in a large furnace, but not to the point of becoming charcoal.
Some consider burning torrefied wood a cleaner energy alternative to burning coal — which scientists say is responsible for more than one-third of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.
Coal and wood both give off carbon dioxide when burned, but the trees originally got their carbon from the atmosphere as they grew, so burning wood doesn't put new carbon dioxide into the air.
Torrefaction has been gaining momentum in Europe, and now American companies are experimenting with the process.
The James River Power Station in Springfield, Mo., has been working with torrefied wood, which looks like dark sawdust. Torrefaction, also known as biochar, is a process of roasting wood chips in a large furnace, but not to the point of becoming charcoal.
Some consider burning torrefied wood a cleaner energy alternative to burning coal — which scientists say is responsible for more than one-third of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.
Coal and wood both give off carbon dioxide when burned, but the trees originally got their carbon from the atmosphere as they grew, so burning wood doesn't put new carbon dioxide into the air.
Torrefaction has been gaining momentum in Europe, and now American companies are experimenting with the process.
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