Northwest Minnesota Foundation Supports Biomass Gasification Project

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Bemidji, awarded a grant to the Pembina Trail Resource Conservation and Development Council for a project that will test fuels developed for a biomass gasification power plant.

The project's goal is to use underutilized sources of biomass available in northwest Minnesota to locally produce an alternative source of energy. The project will test some of the biomass sources of fuel available in the region, convert it to a gas, and test the fuel as a source of energy.

The bark and sawdust byproducts from milling present an excellent economic opportunity to produce renewable power. Other fuel sources, such as sunflower hulls, wild rice, grain screenings and switchgrass, will also be tested as a means to compare resource materials from northwest Minnesota. The project will provide data to minimize the potential risk for installing a new renewable energy power plant.

For more information about the project, visit NMF's Web site.

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