The Bio-Burner by LEI Products burns a wide variety of biomass fuels for heating your home, shop or garage with the BB-100 (100k BTU burner/boiler). Their videos show how you can burn low value biomass materials such as manure, spoiled corn, spoiled animal feed, hammermill residues, wood chips, grass pellets, chopped switch grass, wood pellets, chopped corn cobs, beans, walnut shells, sawdust, sunflower meal, stover pellets (compressed plant stalks), animal bedding and more. If you live in an agricultural area it seems like you could probably find some waste stream biomass materials that would work. You’re not restricted to store bought pellets.
biomass
Pine Needle and Coconut Shell Briquettes
This company is gathering pine needles from an invasive species, combining with sawdust and making briquettes as a replacement for coal.
Husk Power Systems
“Husk Power Systems designs, installs and operates biomass-based power plants. Each plant uses proprietary gasification technology to convert abundant agricultural residue (procured from local farmers) into electricity, which is then distributed to rural households and micro-enterprises through a micro-grid system – providing a better quality, cheaper way to meet their need for energy.
Algae Powered House
“In the context of the International Building Exhibition IBA 2013 in Hamburg, Germany, the first algae bioreactor house was build. Algae-filled solar panels are the center of the house’s energy cycle. One one hand, they produce heat by absorbing solar energy, which is used to heat the house and produce warm water.On the other hand they produce biomass for biogas production, which is used to provide electrical energy and more heat.”
Wood stove runs a generator, produces gasoline, runs a fridge and heats hot water
“This is the most efficient wood stove on the planet it will make gasoline run a generator and a propane fridge, heat hot water and your home at the same time. this system works on any dry organic material.”
Jean Pain’s Compost-based Bioenergy System
“Jean Pain (1930–1981) was a French innovator who developed a compost-based bioenergy system that produced 100% of his energy needs. He heated water to 60 degrees celsius at a rate of 4 litres a minute which he used for washing and heating. He also distilled enough methane to run an electricity generator, cooking elements, and power his truck. This method of creating usable energy from composting materials has come to be known as Jean Pain Composting, or the Jean Pain Method.