Hybrid Solar-Biomass Refinery – New Mexico

New Mexico-based Sundrop Fuels recently announced that theyhave developed a hybrid solar-biomass refinery. The company plans to use concentrated solar power (CSP) to heat plant scraps and wood chips to create a biofuel. That biofuel can then be used to create gasoline or diesel fuel.

Instead of using mirrors to reflect sunlight and to heat water or molten salts in a central tower, Sundrop Fuels’ design will use that solar energy to heat biomass to very high temperatures. The solar heat “blasts organic materials with super high temperatures…tearing apart the materials at the molecular level…which creates a synthetic gas that can be formed into gasoline or diesel,” said Sundrop CEO Wayne Simmons.

Some burning of biomass will be necessary to reach the desired temperatures, but the company claims that roughly 30 percent of the necessary heat will come from the sun. That translates into roughly one-third less fuel burnt to create their end-product.

Sundrop is seeking investors to get a demonstration project off the ground. $100-$150 million is needed to build the plant that could create up to 8 million gallons of alternative fuel per year. From there, Sundrop hopes to expand into foreign markets with sunny, arid climates, such as North Africa, the Middle East and China. They plan to have the demo project online around 2012 and then expand from there.

Source: calfinder.com

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Posted by Tracey A. Smith on Feb 12 2010. Filed under Solar Hybrid, U.S.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry