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Dispatches: Inventions Splinter Technology A spiffy new generator turns wood into watts. Could be just the thing for getting waaay off the grid. By Bob Parks
"Biomass gasification sounds like a stomach disease," says Browne, "but it's actually one of the most promising untapped energy sources out there." The technology was used to power European cars when gasoline was scarce during World War II, but earlier gasifiers were too crude and dirty to be of long-term value. CPC has invested more than $5 million in its new cooker, the BioMax, which has a one-gigahertz computer chip that allows precise temperature control, and a high-tech cleaning system to eliminate smog-creating nitrogen oxide emissions. In 2000, Browne spent four weeks in the Philippines installing a machine that ran on coconut shells and produced enough juice to electrify 100 homes in a small village. This winter, using a $3 million grant from the Department of Energy and the Forest Service, a handful of small businesses across the United States will test BioMax gasifiers. If all goes well, a retail unit, priced at about $10,000, could debut by 2004. Critics of wood gasification argue that the machines use too much wood and would easily eat up all the available waste. Browne counters that the devices are meant to be used only where they make the most economic sense: in cabins and businesses where waste wood is plentiful and would otherwise rot (producing harmful greenhouse gases) or crowd landfills. "Wood is condensed solar energy with leaves," he says. "As long as you've got the fuel on hand, you can generate power wherever you want." |
   
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