The University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center recently made an offer to a local business it couldn’t refuse.  The Grand Forks Truss Co. produces rafters and floor truss supports for construction, and for nearly 20 years they’ve been accumulating one heck of a wood scraps pile.  But now, instead of a cumbersome eyesore, that little mountain of wood can be converted into electricity.  Using a wood chipper to grind the unused lumber into small scraps, the research center will then burn this kindling with low levels of oxygen to create gas, which then passes through several filters rendering it into natural gas, ultimately being used to power an engine that generates electricity.  Check out this recent article by Dan Gunderson of Minnesota Public Radio to learn more about this burgeoning science called biomass gasification.  It’s innovations like these that are changing the world!