The seven-member team, comprised of professors as well as undergraduate and graduate students, will use the $10,000 in prize money to build a pilot bioreactor on campus.
The Houston Chronicle explains that the device will create biomass charcoal, also known as biochar, by heating shredded trees to 400–500 degrees Celsius with little oxygen. The resulting biochar can be used for soil enrichment and is especially effective as it traps carbon in the soil, preventing it from drifting into the atmosphere like it would if the felled trees decayed naturally.
Ultimately, the biochar could provide a financial boost to Houston. For example, the Chronicle reports, methane gas created in the burning process could be sold as potential energy. Furthermore, if President-elect Barack Obama chooses to instate a carbon cap-and-trade system, biochar could garner revenue credits for the city.
However, the carbon-sequestering apparatus is far from ready, and may not be functioning in time to use Ike’s actual waste. In the meantime, city officials have vowed not to send the wood to landfills, selling it for compost instead.
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/environment/2008/December/Houston-Will-Turn-Hurricane-Ike-Debris-Into-Charcoal.html