The renewable energy system, developed by Virent Energy Systems, a Madison-based energy start-up, began sending electricity to the power grid in late December, said Virent Chief Executive Eric Apfelbach.

Virent is a start-up firm founded by Randy Cortright after he and other scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invented a chemical process for converting the sugar contained in corn plants into hydrogen.

The process, known as aqueous phase reforming, is linked to the grid thanks to a financial contribution and participation of Madison Gas & Electric Co., the electric and natural gas utility that serves Madison and parts of Dane County.

The system that's up and running is producing 10 kilowatts of electricity - enough to power about five Madison homes for a year, said Dave Toso, senior engineer at MG&E.

That may not seem like much, but Virent has developed the technology for use in distributed generation uses far from the grid, such as powering entire villages in remote areas of China or India, Apfelbach said.

"There are 2 billion people in the world without electricity," he said, adding that the Virent technology could one day be employed as part of a United Nations "rural electrification" initiative.

The partnership with MG&E was announced a year ago this week, and the system has been powered to the grid since late last month, Apfelbach said.

Cortright, Virent's chief technical officer, said the launch of the electrical generator is a key step for the company, which hopes to develop an even better system for use in a variety of applications, whether filling hydrogen-powered vehicles or powering homes through a portable generator.

"This system is a validation of all of our work over the past couple of years on developing the (aqueous phase reforming) process," Cortright said.

"We have told collaborators about the promise of this technology, and now we have a working system to demonstrate that (aqueous phase reforming) is capable of becoming a viable production system. I believe this is a crucial first step to delivering a reliable, cost-effective system for production of renewable fuels."

The company opted to use glycerol, a byproduct from the production of biodiesel, as the source rather than a corn-based sugar, Apfelbach said.

The system uses natural gas briefly to start the four-cylinder engine, the same kind found in a Ford Focus.

The engine then provides the heat to enable the chemical process that creates a hydrogen gas that in turn runs the engine and delivers power to the grid.

"It's really a hydrogen or fuel gas generator that is much more efficient and emissions-friendly than anything that's available," he said.

The company hopes to sell an updated version of its system for use in a hydrogen-fuel filling station for hydrogen-powered cars, and another for use in making hydrogen for industrial settings, he said.

MG&E was glad to participate in the project, both to promote economic development and potential new energy sources, Toso said.