Brooklyn, NY

re:char’s technology development arm publicly demonstrated one of its prototype small-scale, mobile pyrolyzers. The unit was built and tested at re:char’s fabrication lab in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This unit is capable of processing wood and ag waste with a bulk particle size of up to 1/2 inch in diameter. In its first public demonstration, the unit processed 1 kg of wood chips and sawdust into finely divided biochar and liquid fuel oil. Please see below for the demonstration video, and a link to the full story on treehugger.

Technorati Tags: bio-oil, biochar, pyrolysis, pyrolyzer, technology

Turney’s idea to use a microwave, which he found could lock away up to 50% of the wood’s mass, came from a cooking accident when he was a teenager, in which he mistakenly microwaved a potato for 40 minutes and found that the vegetable had turned into charcoal.

The article goes on to state that Carbonscape can produce biochar for $65/ton in the UK, making the technology economically viable under a carbon credit scheme.

However, some have questioned the accuracy of these claims. Members of the Biochar Listserv have noted that an average microwave is typically only 64% efficient, compared to an electric heater which is generally 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat. Furthermore, list members have noted that Carbonscape is not clear on whether they have taken into account the carbon footprint (and cost) of powering such a large microwave. We support innovation in the low-cost pyrolyzer technology space, and hope that Carbonscape will answer these very valid concerns.

Technorati Tags: carbonscape, microwave, pyrolysis, pyrolyzer