PCCI 14 – Picket Gasification & Biochar – Renewable Power – Brian Shultz

Most people are familiar with burning wood as a heat source, but many are not aware that wood can be turned into a gas that burns more efficiently and cleanly. This presentation will cover the history, basic principles, and applications of the wood gasification process including how it can be used to provide heat and electricity (cogeneration) in stationary engines, power vehicles, sequester carbon, and add fertility to the soil. The design of a small-scale farm cogeneration unit, to be built and tested in 2014, will be reviewed.

Brian D. Shultz retired from Grand Rapids Community College in 2012 as the Manager of Sustainable Construction and Renewable Energy. While there he developed renewable energy training programs for wind, solar, and biomass focused on small scale applications and their integration into sustainable buildings. He has a MA degree in Vocational Education and has served on numerous energy and construction related committee’s including the Board of Directors for the Southwest Michigan Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the GRCC Sustainability Council. Shultz has maintained a small farm in Barry County for the past twenty years where has applied the principles learned in his professional career to the pursuit of a sustainable agricultural business.

Recorded by Local Future’s Aaron Wissner at the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute during the 2014 Sustainability Conference, March 15, 2014.