What if there was a way to produce energy, whilst reducing waste from wood & agricultural industries? Introducing Estonia-based Bioreactor, which is building a bioreactor – clue’s in the name – that acts as a miniature power plant for domestic use. The startup utilizes the process of “biomass gasification” to convert biowaste into heat & electricity. Otherwise said, “the synthesis gases arising from breaking down organic matter are used as fuel for a combustion engine to generate electricity”. In addition, the bioreactor also produces heat, which can be used for space & water heating. Both things combined give the bioreactor a thermodynamic efficiency of up to 95%, able to produce 1kW of electricity & 3kW of heat from 1kg of fuel (making it a cost-effective solution for both primary electricity & heat production). The bioreactor can also be connected to the national grid through an inverter, allowing excess energy produced to be sold. Finally, the bioreactors can also be interconnected & scaled to meet the energy demands of entire communities or even small towns (ps: the bioreactor is said to be more efficiency than other renewable energy options such as localized solar or wind power, as these are highly dependent on prevailing weather conditions & most often limited to producing only electricity – not electricity & heating). The firm’s target bioreactor is forecast to produce 45KWh output, enough to power 18 avg. household & heat 12 avg. households per day. The new funding will go towards delivering the firm’s first 25 pilot installations/ bioreactors (combined, capable of generating 10GWh annually). Bioreactor was founded in 2022 by Kim Forsman (with the rest of the team still in stealth mode). Sidenote: for those interested, the company published a great primer on the benefit of decentralized energy production (which among others, includes reduced energy loss from transportation, just-in-time energy generation & self-sufficiency). <Source: ain.capital, articstartup.com>
