The Osaka University Joining and Welding Research Institute has come up with a way to generate large volumes of hydrogen gas from wood chips and scrap.
When wood is placed in a chamber with argon gas and a high-frequency discharge is given - voila! - a plasma of hydrogen and oxygen ions.
60 grams of charcoal generated 10 times as much hydrogen gas as that which can be obtained by a conventional gasification process.
What's more...no tar or toxic bypoducts are left.
"The new method can also
render harmless any metal and glass materials mixed in with the wood scraps, and it limits the generation of dioxins."
And, if they can figure out how to put one of these ovens in the back of a car big/small enough to carry a wood pile, we can have super biofuel car that runs on hydrogen gas.
Seriously - Japan produces some 15 million tons of wood scrap each year at construction sites which may now have a very practical use.
VRROOMMMM!
Source. Nikkei
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