Feedstocks in Focus for March 31: Municipal Solid Waste and urban residues
10 weeks out from ABFC, this week’s Feedstock in Focus is “MSW and Industrial residues”.
Also known as “Urban waste”, it’s nasty, here, inevitable and aggregated. The feedstocks are available at fixed, affordable prices and in long-term supply contracts from credit-worthy entities. Everyone loves the idea.
So, when will we have it?
What are the trends?
Financing or the lack thereof
Last month, we reported that the proposed Enerkem MSW-to-ethanol plant in Pontotoc remains delayed, five years after the project was still announced. The company says it still has ever intention of developing the project that is based on its 10 million gallon per year facility in Edmonton, Alberta. Several million dollars have been invested in the project so far, with several permits ready to be issued and others awaiting application, but the company is still working to secure financing for the project. The Edmonton facility began commissioning in December but fuel production is not expected to start until this spring.
Projects, projects everywhere
We reported that in Thailand, Phuket’s Provincial Administration Organization is seeking $22.6 million to build a waste-to-biofuel facility that would use the entire island’s MSW as feedstock. Funding for the project will be sought from the national Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
We also heard from Spain that a new company using MSW as feedstock to produce biodiesel and biochar will set up shop in Ribera de Ebro. The company will submit its application for permission by the end of the month, with renovation of an existing building to start in the spring so that biodiesel production can begin by the summer.
In Iowa, we reported back in December that Iowa City was looking to start negotiations with Fiberight to set up MSW-to-ethanol production. The City held an RFP earlier this year and Fiberight was the only company to respond. The company says it can reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill by 80%.
On a broader, statewide note, the Iowa economic development authority awarded EcoEngineers a grant last October to conduct a waste-to-energy feasibility study for the state, look at technical and economic feasibility of biogas and other processes for producing energy from agricultural, livestock and industrial wastes as well as and MSW. Biogas can produce RINs under the RFS if used as transportation fuel.
Over in Surrey, BC, Canada, in the Vancouver suburbs, Iris Solutions, Plenary Harvest Surrey and Urbaser S.A. have been shortlisted from an original group of 11 companies to invest in, build and operate the city of Surrey’s $60 million residential kitchen and yard waste into renewable fuel project. The fuel is destined to power the city’s garbage collection vehicles.
Waste to Fuels Monsters. Today, Abengoa and Fiberight.
Abengoa BioEnergy
Last year, Abengoa inaugurated its demonstration waste-to-biofuels plant, with a capacity to treat 25,000 tons of municipal solid waste from which it will obtain up to 1.5 million liters (400,000 gallons per year) of ethanol.
The demonstration plant, located in Babilafuente (Salamanca, Spain) uses waste-to-biofuels technology developed by Abengoa to produce second-generation biofuels from MSW using a fermentation and enzymatic hydrolysis treatment. During the transformation process, the organic matter is treated in various ways to produce organic fiber that is rich in cellulose and hemicellulose, which is subsequently converted into ethanol.
Fiberight
The company has landed a $25 million USDA loan guarantee, spent $7 million on its Virginia-based pilot, and raised $25 million in equity. Now, the company is aiming at a project in Blairstown, Iowa – especially after the Iowa town found that closure costs associated with its current landfill were higher than expected, prompting the town to redouble efforts to vet various technologies that can reduce the city’s landfilling problems.
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