Gas produced by a biomass gasifier firing wood chips has been used to operate a 100hp diesel engine, and conduct emission testing, for more than 100 hours.

The research centre said the processing technology provided clean, high-quality gas for power generation.

"We believe this demonstration project utilising biomass to produce a gas that is burned in a diesel engine is the first of its kind in North America," said EERC research manager in charge of the project, Darren Schmidt.

EERC director Gerald Groenewold said there were significant opportunities to use the technology at remote sites where it was difficult to bring in fuels. "This provides many exciting opportunities for enhancing national energy independence and could significantly reduce the use of landfills," he said.

Project sponsors include the US Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission, FlexEnergy, the North Dakota Department of Commerce Division of Community Services, Primeboard, the Biomass Energy Resource Centre, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

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