Jim Arcate worked with PICHTR on the Hawaii Biomass Gasifier Facility for the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) and the State of Hawaii during design, construction and shakedown testing completed in 1996. The plant used bagasse from the HC&S Paia Sugar Mill as feedstock for the IGT RENUGAS gasifier. There were problems in handling and feeding bagasse into the pressurized fluid bed gasifier.

Jim knew the DOE did a lot of work on coal gasification, maybe the coal technology could be used by converting biomass to charcoal for gasification ? or perhaps direct combustion of biomass charcoal in a combustion turbine ? Jim later learned about the Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC) work by ABB and the U.S. Department of Energy at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center. He formed Transnational Technology to promote the conversion of biomass to charcoal and use of charcoal as a solid fuel for a combustion turbine combined cycle (PFBC) power generation system.

PFBC could be more cost effective and reliable than direct combustion or gasification of biomass. Commercially available PFBC power plants have efficiencies up to 42 percent.  Advanced PFBC power plants in the development stage are expected to have efficiencies of 45 to 50 percent. Charcoal would be produced at "biomass refineries" (from wood waste, agricultural and forestry residues, dedicated feedstock, etc.) and transported to a large central power plant.

Wood burning power plants could be a good source of low cost feedstock for charcoal. In general, they burn wood very inefficiently to generate power to sell to Utilities.  They could  convert wood to charcoal and sell charcoal for co-firing with coal in existing power plants.  Utilities would get a reliable, easy to use fuel and the benefits from green power pricing and possibly renewable energy credits.

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