From the NC State Technician – March 26, 2009
According to researchers at N.C. State, wood could be the new coal. Using a process called torrefaction, woodchips are dried out in what equates to an industrial sized toaster oven that changes them both physically and chemically. While they retain 80 percent of their energy content, they are much lighter and easier to crush – an ideal burnable energy source.
Burning the woodchips is also much greener and more efficient, boasting a zero carbon output.
While torrefaction is nothing new in itself, N.C. State researchers have managed to develop one that is mobile and self powered, in comparison to the bulky, less efficient machines of the past.
Read the full story at http://www.technicianonline.com/news/new-coal-could-be-boost-to-n-c-needs-1.1631097