GE Technology Turns Gas Flares Into Electricity

I've always cringed seeing the flares from crude oil processing, knowing natural gas was being lost where no infrasturcture exists to use or input the gas into pipelines. This article is about efforts by GE to use some of the wasted natural gas for producing electricity.
"Fire Power: GE Technology Turns Gas Flares Into Electricity GE Reports: The climate impact of the flares is the same as the annual emissions from 77 million cars, or 34 percent of the U.S. car fleet. If converted to carbon credits at $15 per metric ton, the emissions would be worth $6 billion.
But there is an upside. Billions of dollars in wasted natural gas could be used to generate reliable, affordable electricity and yield billions more per year in increased global economic output."

University of Minnesota Scientists and Master Gardeners Analyze Biofuel Feedstock Production and Potential to Improve Land Use | BioFuels Journal

A process called pyrolysis makes bio-oil and biochar from biomass such as perennial grasses. The bio-oil may be refined into various biofuels, while the biochar may be used as a fertilizer. If this fertilizer proves useful, it could be an important part of making the pyrolysis process profitable and sustainable.
University of Minnesota Scientists and Master Gardeners Analyze Biofuel Feedstock Production and Potential to Improve Land Use BioFuels Journal: “What is so exciting about this project is that it has the potential to improve soil fertility of large agricultural fields as well as small gardens,” said Jason Hill, assistant professor in the U's bioproducts and biosystems engineering department and one of the project’s lead investigators.