HM3 Energy Inc specializes in woody biomass torrefaction, a process using extreme heat in the conversion of plant material into dry, dense fuel that burns efficiently and cleanly. Using their TorrB torrefaction technology, the firm can convert any plant material: forest slash, juniper, waste wood, crop residues, giant cane & even cow dung, into a dense briquette that can be crushed and fed into coal-fired electric power plants with no adjustments or modifications needed to the plant itself. These briquettes are hydrophobic and testing has shown the product burns similar to coal, requiring no adjustments to power plant design, while releasing significantly less sulfur into the atmosphere and no detectable mercury emissions. While the briquettes do still emit greenhouse gases, burning of biomass could be considered to be a carbon-neutral act. The reason for this is plants absorb the same amount of carbon during their life cycles as they expel upon burning. Dozens of companies around the globe are working on torrefaction as a possible solution to the environmental costs of coal. In the Spring 2016, HM3 completed construction of a $4 million demonstration plant. Usingcommercial grade equipment, and easily scaled up for construction of commercial sized plants anywhere a sustainable biomass supply is available. Plant construction helped hone the firm's torrefaction and densification processes before building a commercial sized plant,. Plants avaialbility enables performance of smaller scale testing on all kinds of potential feedstock for waste-to-energy technology toinclude various kinds of woody biomass as well as agricultural residue such as orchard prunings, sugar cane or coconut residue.
