Team from Rice wins $10,000 in 'Recycle Ike' contest

By CAROLYN FEIBEL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle (chron.com)
Dec. 10, 2008, 11:04PM

A team of Rice scientists and students won a city contest Wednesday to devise a new way to recycle tree debris — by turning it into carbon-sequestering "biomass charcoal."
"This just goes to show how Houstonians have figured out in so many ways big and small how to make the best out of a natural disaster," Mayor Bill White said. "From necessity comes ingenuity and creativity, and I think that's what we're seeing here."

The winners of Houston's "Recycle Ike" contest accepted $10,000 in prize money, which they will use to build a pilot bioreactor on campus. The team of seven included students, graduate students, researchers and professors.

Read the full story