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Vega Biofuels release third-party biocoal evaluation report

Vega Biofuels releases details of evaluation report on Its biocoal product, files Provisional Patent Application with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

US-based torrefaction technology developer and biocoal producer Vega Biofuels, Inc., have released details of an evaluation report of its the biocoal product. The evaluation was recently completed by Western Research Institute, an independent non-profit research organisation, at the request of a large undisclosed US utility. According to Vega Biofuels the results confirmed that its biocoal product can be used to replace traditional coal in coal-fired power plants.

The “Biomass Combustion Evaluation Report” was done to evaluate whether or not its bio-coal can be used as a replacement for traditional coal. Western Research Institute, located in Laramie, WY conducted the tests using two versions of Vega’s biocoal. The first product was torrefied at 300ºC and the second at 450ºC. The testing results indicated that the product produced at 300ºC performed successfully when compared to Powder River Basin (PRB) coal.

The company has also filed a Provisional Patent Application with the US Patent and Trademark Office under the title “Method and Apparatus for Torrefying Biomass“. The application disclosure relates generally to wood used as a fuel source, and more particularly to systems, methods, and devices for biomass torrefaction such as wood or other agricultural biomass. Biocoal has a high-energy density of up to 13,000 BTUs/Lb and is considered a renewable energy fuel that meets the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) in the US.

– This is very good news for our company. The extensive evaluation performed by Western Research Institute confirms what we’ve been saying all along, that our biocoal can replace traditional coal and help keep coal-fired power plants open and save the jobs for those that would be lost when these power plants are shuttered. We feel that our product is the best solution for the future of these plants. They can utilise our product with very little retrofitting, said Michael K. Molen, Chairman and CEO of Vega Biofuels in a statement.

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