A pilot scale waste-to-energy facility is now up and running in Edmonton, Canada. The $12.5 million Advanced Energy Research Facility is comprised of both the plant and a full-scale lab. The project is a partnership between Alberta Innovates – Energy and Environment Solutions (AI-EES), the City of Edmonton and Enerkem. The province of Alberta is well known as an oil …
Human Waste for Biofuels?
Can fecal sludge be used for biofuels? Maybe believes Kartik Chandran an associated professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia Engineering. He has recently been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Gates Foundation to continue his research into a new model for water, sanitation and energy. And this is where fecal sludge, aka poop comes in. This is …
Waste Management Invests in Agnion
Waste Management (WM) has announced they have invested in Agnion Energy, a company developing gasification technology. WM joins other company investors including Kleiner Perkins, Caufield Byers, Munich Venture Partners, and Wellington Partners. Agnion’s allothermal gasification technology converts solid biomass feedstock into a hydrogen and carbon monoxide synthetic gas (syngas) with high heating value. The syngas can then be converted into …
Biofuels Center of North Carolina Awards $1.6M in Grants
In an effort to accelerate the commercialization of renewable fuels, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina has awarded $1.6 million to 15 different projects located within the state. The monies for the awards came from the 2011 Statewide Biofuels Development Grants Program. The center received 58 pre-proposals from 23 organizations with funding requests totaling more than $5.2 million. “The juncture …
ICM Deploys Its Biomass Gasification System
ICM has announced that it is beginning commercial deployment of its biomass gasification system after the successful completion of infrastructure development, research, testing, and an independent engineering review. The company began operating its commercial scale demonstration gasifer back in 2009. The technology has the capacity to covert 150 tons of biomass per day to a syngas that can then be …
Loss of DOE Loan Gurantee Program “Would Be A Tragedy”
There is a lot of action in the “Beltway” these days surrounding biofuels. One such conversation is around the fate of the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program. A group of policy makers want to end the program, which right now is funded with Reinvestment and Recovery monies. However, energy companies, such as Pleasanton, California-based Fulcrum Bioenergy, would be …
Florida Advanced Biofuels Plant Breaks Ground
A new commercial scale advance biofuels plant broke ground today in Vero Beach, Florida. The $130 million plant is being developed by INEOS New Planet BioEnergy (INPB), a joint venture between INEOS Bio and New Planet Energy. The Indian River BioEnergy Center in Vero Beach, Florida, will convert yard, vegetative and household wastes into cellulosic ethanol and renewable power for …
Part 1: An Overview of Waste-to-Energy
Earlier this week, I announced that I was kicking off a series on waste-to-energy and many people have already expressed comments and feedback on the subject. It is probably no coincidence that the hot button was the term incineration, aka combustion or burn. No one can see this term and not think pollution. While incinerators are still in use today, …
Waste Management Developing Organics Facility in Florida
Waste Management is developing a new organics facility in Okeechobee, Florida. The facility, which will sit on eight acres, will process yard, food and clean wood waste to produce soil amendments as well as bagged lawn and garden products that may be sold back to the public as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. The facility will be sited adjacent to …
An In-depth Look At Waste’s Role in Energy
A few months ago, I did a review of the book, The Story of Stuff. While the book was good, I was alarmed at the author Annie Leonard’s, unflattering views of waste-to-energy. For decades, municipal waste companies have been burning their trash. Known as incineration, Leonard says that this causes a multitude of problems, the first being burning pollutes and …