May 4th, 2010 By Lauren Chambliss

A $250,000 feasibility study reports that the proposed Cornell University Renewable Bioenergy Initiative could produce $2 million a year in energy using campus-area renewable resources.

PhysOrg.com)The proposed Cornell University Renewable Bioenergy Initiative, CURBI will further commercial applicability of several technologies, including high-efficiency direct combustion, dry fermentation, anaerobic digestion and slow pyrolysis, a process which produces heat, combustible gases and a valuable byproduct called biochar. Biochar is generating attention at the White House and in Congress because it enriches soil and locks-in carbon in its charcoal-like structure; that makes slow pyrolysis potentially a carbon "negative" energy technology, sequestering more carbon on balance than it releases into the atmosphere during production. There is tremendous research interest in biochar, but currently no production capacity exists in the United States, the feasibility study found.

"Consistent with the Cornell Climate Action Plan, CURBI would help to reduce Cornell's use of fossil fuel," says Hoffmann. "But more important than that, CURBI will enable us to demonstrate how renewable energy could work in upstate New York with smaller, locally owned and operated energy systems that can handle a variety of inputs."