All Power Labs
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Renewable energy, Biomass gasification |
| Founded | 2007 in Berkeley, California, United States |
| Founder | Jim Mason, Jessica Hobbs |
| Headquarters | Berkeley , United States |
Area served | Worldwide (nearly 40 countries by 2013) |
| Products | Biomass gasifiers, small-scale electrical generators (15 to 150 kW), Power Pallets, Powertainer |
Number of employees | 30 (2015) |
All Power Labs (APL), a company specializing in renewable energy, is based in Berkeley, California. The firm develops and produces biomass gasifiers along with small-scale electrical generators ranging from 15 to 150 kW that operate on these gasifiers. By 2013, APL had deployed 500 units across nearly 40 countries. In 2015, the organization employed a team of 30 professionals spanning engineering, manufacturing, management, sales, and technical support at its 20,000 square-foot facility located on the former Shipyard site, which accommodates its offices, research and development, and production operations.
History
Established in 2007 by Jim Mason and Jessica Hobbs, All Power Labs emerged from the Shipyard—a creative collaborative space founded by Mason in 2001 featuring shipping-container studios designed for artists, engineers, and scientists. Due to regulatory limitations preventing connection to the electrical grid, the Shipyard community developed an autonomous power system combining reclaimed photovoltaic panels, surplus telecommunications batteries, biodiesel generators, and began exploring biomass gasification technology.
Initially dedicated to education and open-source alternative energy solutions to encourage a DIY approach to power innovation, APL offered open-source DIY Gasifier Experimenters Kits (GEK) complete with publicly accessible schematics and CAD files. However, by 2013, the company transitioned towards proprietary products protected by patents. By 2015, it had established a board of directors comprising experts in renewable energy academia and biomass industry advocates to guide strategic direction and business expansion.
Water Abundance XPRIZE
In September 2018, APL provided electrical power at its Berkeley facility for the Skysource/Skywater Alliance’s system that secured the $1.5 million Water XPRIZE. The competition required generating a minimum of 2,000 liters of water within 24 hours at a cost below two cents per liter using renewable energy sources. The solution incorporated an APL-manufactured PP30 Biomass Gasifier Genset that powered three Skywater 300 atmospheric water generators designed by Skysource, which extract humidity from air combined with woodchip drying processes.
Products
Since 2010, APL has been producing integrated biomass gasifier-generator sets known as Power Pallets, initially available in 10 kW and 20 kW versions. By 2013, the company concentrated exclusively on a proprietary 20 kW model based on Mason’s patents, discontinuing open-source kits and smaller capacity units while still providing access to earlier gasification designs. By late 2016, their flagship product was a 25 kW Power Pallet biomass generator featuring standard combined heat and power (CHP) capabilities and grid interconnection options. A significant portion of their market focuses on addressing energy access challenges in developing countries.
In 2015, with support from a California Energy Commission grant targeting forest-fire mitigation efforts, APL developed the Powertainer—a containerized 150 kW generator set that evolved from a previous 100 kW prototype funded by a US Department of Energy grant awarded in 2012.
Additionally, APL supplies waste biochar locally through its spin-off initiative called the Local Carbon Network (LCN), which promotes sustainable farming practices within the Bay Area. The company also advocates for open-source Biochar Experimenter’s Kit (BEK) plans for gasification-based biochar retort systems to advance research and innovation in biochar production and its applications.
Operation
Biomass gasification involves transforming woody materials into Syngas, mainly composed of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO), by applying elevated temperatures within an oxygen-limited setting. Utilizing waste biomass as the input and capturing the produced biochar—for instance, by incorporating it into soil—results in a process that delivers Negative carbon dioxide emission. APL's gasification units are designed to process a range of lignocellulosic biomass sources, such as wood chips, nutshells, and agricultural residues, with an efficiency of approximately 1 kg per kWh.