Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Proving the microwave charcoal technology the easy part
Proving the microwave charcoal technology the easy part…….now to sell it
By Peter Kerr for sticK
(sticK - 2 Feb. 2011 ) In one sense, proving Carbonscape's novel one-step process can cheaply produce highly porous charcoal was the easy part.
Now the Blenheim-based cleantech company faces the potentially far greater challenge of nationally and globally commercialising its method of turning biomass such as sawdust into what is known as activated carbon (AC).
Carbonscape co-founder Nick Gerritsen describes what his team has developed as an "enabling technology,", and a part of the push to use waste as a resource.
Carbonscape has recently obtained patents around the novelty of its microwave technology, which in a continuous flow produces high-grade and highly valuable AC. AC has a huge surface area, typically measuring more than 500m2 per gram.
Its large surface area gives it a range of uses, including cleaning contaminated soil and water, and capturing large amounts of CO2 emissions from power stations.
It is also used in industries such as metallurgy, chemistry, agriculture, timber processing, gold extraction, nuclear energy, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, medicine and food processing, and its demand is globally growing at a compounded 5% a year.
The method's ability to lock up the greenhouse gas CO2 almost indefinitely was behind it receiving the Judge's top choice in the 2008 Financial Times (UK) Climate Change Challenge.
But wait…..there's more.
For sticK – science, technology, innovation &
commercialisation KNOWLEDGE - is a new Wellington based
news service concentrating on following the money from ideas
to income. Contact editor Peter Kerr at peter.kerr055 @
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Peter Kerr
Message maker
Writer, communicator, simplifier, storyteller.
Versed in the art and science of translating something complicated into an understandable message.
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