Washington State University Releases 4th and final report on biochar focusing on Sustainability Issues, Business Models and Financial Analyses

Home / Washington State University Releases 4th and final report on biochar focusing on Sustainability Issues, Business Models and Financial Analyses

Thank you to Washington State University for the announcement:

Thank you to Washington State University for the announcement:

Ecology has published the fourth and final in a series of reports on the applications and benefits of thermochemical pyrolysis for fuels, heat and biochar from organic resources, Part 4: Literature Review of Sustainability Issues, Business Models, and Financial Analyses: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1207035.html. This report focuses on the criteria that need to be followed to integrate pyrolysis technologies into sustainable business models. This last report presents sustainability criteria and several business models that could be used to build sustainable enterprises based on biomass pyrolysis technologies.  

Manuel Garcia-Perez (research thermochemical engineer at Washington State University (WSU), Biological Systems Engineering Department (BSE)) lead a group of authors from BSE, the WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, US Biochar Initiative and Ecology to complete this fourth report on pyrolysis for fuels, heat and biochar. The work was funded by the Washington Legislature on the Waste to Fuels Technology project.  Dr. Garcia-Perez and others previously completed Parts 1, 2 and 3 as follows.

First, a report titled Methods for Producing Biochar and Advanced Biofuels in Washington State Part 1: Literature Review of Pyrolysis Reactors, http://www.biochar-international.org/node/2488 was announced on this blog in May 2011. The report review historical and current biochar kilns and retort technologies and can be found at: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1107017.html.  

An IBI update for Parts 2 and 3 under Biochar Research in the State of Washington, USA http://www.biochar-international.org/biocharwashingtonstate was made to the blog in August 2012.  

The second report is a Part 2: Literature Review of the Biomass Supply Chain and Preprocessing Technologies, From Field to Pyrolysis Reactor. This report reviews collection, handling and pretreatment methods for biomass sources from waste, agriculture and forests. It can be found at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/1207033.html.

The third report is a Part 3: Literature Review of Technologies for Product Collection and Refining. The report describes technologies and methods for bio-oil products recovery and characterization, bio-char activation, bio-oil refining strategies and regulatory issues related with deployment of pyrolysis technologies. It can be found at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/1207034.html.

Together, these reports provide a comprehensive review of pyrolysis process methods including historic kilns and retorts, feedstock resources, refining products, and sustainable business opportunities for biochar and fuel products.