YAMAGUCHI (Kyodo) A company from Osaka succeeded in generating electricity from biomass fuel for 500 consecutive hours here Friday, one of the longest times on record, according to company officials.
Industrial furnace manufacturer Chugai Ro Co. has been developing power generation technology at a test facility in the city to make use of gases generated from wood waste, a component of biomass fuel that also includes manure and many other agricultural byproducts.
The technology is expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which are thought to be the primary gas responsible for global warming, according to company officials.
The company plans to refine the technology further and commercialize it by March 2006, the officials said.
The company uses methane and other flammable gases obtained by burning biomass fuel to propel turbines to generate power.
The method developed by the company generated three times more electricity than conventional steam-propelled turbines, according to the officials.
