We are familiar with coal-gasification. The intermediate product is syn-gas, a mixture of hydrogen and CO. Syngas can be used in may ways to generate power, for stationary or mobile purposes, making it a key ingredient for future energy infrastructures.
But syngas can also be made from biomass. The main drawback against using biomass has been logistic costs. You need a large gasification plant to get the economies of scale. To transport the necessary biomass volume to the plant is just not viable.
Unless….
Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have found a way around the problem.
Bioliq as they call it involves first heating the plant material in the absence of air to around 500°C, a process known as pyrolysis. This produces a thick oily liquid containing solid particles of coke termed biosyncrude. The crude can be made efficiently in small decentral facilities. The highly concentrated crude is transported to the central plant to make syngas.
The economics are a magnitude better. Clever.
