Western Research Institute (WRI) services

Spinning straw into gold is close to reality for some farmers pursuing alternative energy to support their operations. Converting biomass to energy is an obvious solution for farmers who have resources such as crop salvage readily available to fuel their power needs. In the Pacific Northwest, grass seed farmers are annually left with more than one million tons of straw from which they realize little income by selling it as animal feed. A much greater profit can come from utilizing this biomass onsite for power generation.

WRI is pioneering coal combustion and gasification technologies for integrated, ultra-clean power plants. The technologies will provide the flexibility to produce `opportunity` products, including clean transportation fuels, high-value chemicals, synthesis gas, and hydrogen in concurrence with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vision 21 Program.