SUNY Cobleskill invention gains patent, support
Jul. 10—A device invented by a SUNY Cobleskill professor has been granted a second patent.
According to a news release from the college, SUNY Cobleskill's inclined rotary gasifier has been awarded a second patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, further protecting the intellectual property of the carbon-offsetting waste-to-energy system.
The gasifier, invented by Assistant Professor David Waage and supported by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, is the first fully automated and portable carbon capture and harvesting system, producing biofuels, biopower and soil supplements from almost any combustible material.
The gasifier was awarded its first patent in 2010. The second patent provides 15 intellectual property protections in addition to the 12 protections under the first patent, the release stated.
The gaseous and liquid fuels the system produces from waste materials "are significantly higher in energy content than other similar gasification technologies," the release stated. "The fuels burn markedly cleaner than fossil fuels while reducing overall carbon emissions."
The unit's mobility allows it to be deployed to forests, farms, water treatment facilities and other areas of biomass. A gasifier system was recently deployed to California for use by the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as the agency cleared forest underbrush to mitigate the risk of recurring wildfires.
Waage and a team of researchers and technicians are working with industry partner Caribou Biofuels on the continued development and commercialization of the gasifier.
"There is vast potential for this technology in domestic and community use, as the system's economics and carbon-capture abilities, coupled with its ability to input material without the need for pre-sorting or pre-drying, are unparalleled," the release stated.
"The inclined rotary gasifier can potentially revolutionize how we manage waste and produce energy, giving us cleaner and more efficient fuel solutions. Our collaboration with Caribou Biofuels and support from various grants have been crucial in advancing this project, and we are excited about this system's future applications and benefits," Waage said. "The additional protections provided under this second patent, borne from our research and development, represent another big step toward commercializing the gasifier technology."
Initial research into the gasifier system was funded by a Department of Defense grant of $1.6 million thru the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, which is the DoD's environmental and resilience science and technology program, planned and executed in partnership with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, with participation by numerous other federal and non-federal organizations, according to the release.
SUNY Cobleskill received an additional $5.8 million grant in 2020 from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. An additional $255,879 was awarded by the National Science Foundation in 2021.
