Current Research | Equipment & Facilities
sustainable energy conversion of biomass & municipal solid wastes: carbon negative biorefining system
A large percentage of the United States energy demands are currently met using liquid fuels imported from politically unstable parts of the world. Such imports pose a potential threat to our national security and, therefore, finding an alternative source to supply our country’s ever growing energy demand is critical. To alleviate these dependencies, we are developing environmentally sustainable, compact energy conversion systems that produce H2 and electricity from various biomass and municipal solid wastes (MSW) streams.
For example, an alkaline hydrothermal treatment is a less-studied method of biomass conversion but with great potential, compared to conventional gasification and pyrolysis. The technology is scalable and has low parasitic energy consumption. By adding carbon dioxide capture, the system will not just be carbon neutral, it will be carbon negative. Our ultimate objective is to create the scientific and engineering foundation for a transformative solution for mass-producible, sustainable energy production from biomass.
Carbon Negative Biomass Refining System based on Alkaline Hydrothermal Treatment Technology
