Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns mentioned this mighty machine in his remarks to the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference on Wednesday.

It’s called the BioMax and it is a prototype combined heat and power system developed through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and USDA Forest Products Laboratory. The machine is “transportable, fully automated, and environmentally friendly” suitable for small businesses, rural homes and schools.

The process gasifies wood chips, or other biomass, and produces 15 kW of electricity.