Most efforts to harness biomass as renewable energy have met with difficulties because biomass is bulky, moist, and disperse, which makes transportation costly. Therefore, open burning of biomass is a widespread practice in many parts of the world, contributing to pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

This project aims to develop small-scale, low-cost, portable equipment that turn small pockets of biomass in remote areas into commercially viable products, such as solid fuel, fertilizer, activated carbon, or other chemical precursors, at a significantly lower input cost, using a new chemical concept called oxygen-lean torrefaction.

Download the posters:

• A decentralized biomass torrefaction system
• Design of a lab-scale torrefaction reactor

Winner:

• Factor(E) Energy for Development Prize and Fulbright Scholarship (Kevin Kung)
• Rabobank-MIT Food and Water Innovation Prize
• IDEAS Global Challenge