Trash into treasure: North Dakota is fueling the development of biomass.(SECTIONS: Renewables)

Publication: Electric Light & Power

Publication Date: 01-JUL-07

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COPYRIGHT 2007 PennWell Publishing Corp.

The adage that one man's trash can be another's treasure is gaining new meaning in Grand Forks, N.D., where researchers and private industry are working to turn industrial trash into treasured heat and electricity.

In January, the Grand Forks Truss Plant partnered with the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota to launch a pilot biomass gasification power generation system that turns the plant's sawdust and wood waste into combustible gas used to produce needed heat and electricity. The project, which is funded in part by the Department of Energy along with private investment, is the result of more than three years of direct research for the biomass gasifier and more than 60 years of gasification technology development at the EERC.

The Grand Forks Truss Plant, a building products manufacturer specializing in roof trusses, was the logical partner for the biomass gasification test project, according to Darren Schmidt, research manager at the EERC. "We approached the Truss Plant as a demonstration site because they...

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