AU, power company turn waste into energy

Auburn University and a power company are turning wood chips into electricity.

Community Power Corp. and the Auburn University Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts demonstrated the BioMax25 on Tuesday in front of the State House. The machine turned wood chips into electricity, enough to power several heat lamps that reduced the chill.

Robb R. Walt, president of Community Power, said the device never will compete with commercial power on electricity costs alone, but he said it offers other benefits that make it more cost-effective for some customers.

"Businesses pay to get rid of waste," he said. "It is tipping fees and stuff like that."

The wood chips used for the BioMax25 demonstration had to be a certain size for the machine to work. If they were too big, the machine could not process them. If the wood was too small, like sawdust, the machine would clog.

It used about 50 pounds of wood chips each hour, said Steven Taylor, director of the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts.

He said the right mixture produced energy in barely half an hour.

"We are completely standalone," he said, pointing to the 25-kilowatt machine.

The unit, which cost about $150,000, could power four or five average homes, he said.

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