Why Waste? 10 Hot waste-to-fuels projects (print friendly)

August 5, 2013 |

LandfillToday, we look at the 10 Hottest Waste to fuels companies, their prospects and their projects. 

So you’ve heard the bad news: climate change is here. The economy is too weak to do anything about it, they say. Natural gas is transformationally cheap, but try filling your car with it.

Meanwhile, temperatures are rising, storms are freaky, the rain isn’t where its supposed to be, and the smog is bad. Who knows what your soot child is breathing in the back of a school bus? Gasoline prices are a scandal, and just when you think that fuel economy standards will save the day, you read that they only start to bite hard in 2025.

So, maybe you thought about a Chevy Volt until you choked on the sticker price and the problems of range. But then again, what does the action of one consumer matter, you think, when there are so many people in China, and who knows what they’ll do? Probably they’ll eat a lot more meat and burn a lot more oil.

So what are you supposed to do — what technology could you support? What material could be aggregated, what molecule or energy source might be tapped to really make a difference? Not only at the pump and in the pocketbook, but in the sky and the climate around you.

Think waste

Try this: think waste. Particularly, municipal solid waste. Yep, household garbage, and yard waste too — and throw in agricultural waste, too.

It’s nasty, here, inevitable and aggregated. And, when it comes to making affordable renewable fuel, the 2010s might well be the Decade of Waste.

3 reasons why waste is king of renewable fuels

Regardless of the substantial and material promise of dedicated energy crops. waste has been hot and getting hotter as a bioenergy feedstock because it solves three of the most pressing problems blocking capacity expansion.

1. The feedstocks are available at fixed, affordable prices – sometimes free, sometimes even transitionally available with a negative-cost tipping fee. And available in fixed, long-term supply contracts.

2. The odious sources are generally already aggregated, for health or noxiousness reasons.

3. They are less subject to considerations such as indirect land-use change that have plagued energy crops, and evoke few protects, if any, from environmental extremists.

Another reason to love waste is that residues can be used over and over again – once you have the idea that waste from one process can be the feedstock for another, there’s no limit but ingenuity from the process being repeated over and over again, making many uses out of the one original aggregation of organic molecules that set the chain in motion.

Now, back to municipal solid waste.

What is it?

It’s the biologically active fraction of household, yard and construction waste – the stuff that generally goes into the landfill. Minus the refrigerators and plastics.

Examples: INEOS Bio project in Vero Beach, Florida, or the Enerkem projects in Edmonton, Alberta or Westbury, Ontario, backed by no less than Valero and Waste Management.

The Pros: Already aggregated, can be available at zero or negative costs. Feedstock owners can grant long-term (15-20 years) and are generally credit worthy entities. Feedstock developers are aggressively developing this channel.

The Cons:  Water content, and pre-sortation and impurities are a problem. Generally, fermenting technologies are out (except companies like INEOS Bio that can ferment the syngas from gasifying biomass). Gasifiers are generally expensive and low-yield. Finally, MSW does not generally count as agricultural biomass, for such projects as the DOE/USDA/US Navy collaboration to commercialize biofuels production utilizing Title III provisions in the Defense Production Act.

The 10 Hottest Waste to Fuels Projects

1. INEOS Bio

INEOS-Bio-Vero-Beach

Last week, INEOS Bio announced that its Indian River BioEnergy Center at Vero Beach is now producing cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale. First ethanol shipments will be released in August. This is the first commercial-scale production in the world using INEOS Bio’s breakthrough gasification and fermentation technology for conversion of biomass waste into bioethanol and renewable power.

The Center cost more than $130 million and created more than 400 direct construction, engineering and manufacturing jobs during its development. The project sourced more than 90% of the equipment from U.S. manufacturers, creating or retaining jobs in more than 10 states. The Center has 65 full- time employees and provides $4 million annually in payroll to the local community.

More on the project.

2. Fulcrum BioEnergy

Fulcrum-SierraRenderingCropped_000

Last December, Fulcrum BioEnergy announced that it has successfully secured commitments and is proceeding toward closing $175 million in financing to fund construction of its first municipal solid waste to low-carbon fuels plant, the Sierra BioFuels Plant and to fund the development of future projects. The project is expected to be completed in 2015.

Fulcrum’s engineering and technology teams have recently made numerous enhancements to the design of Sierra and to its proprietary MSW to ethanol process. The Company expects these improvements will dramatically reduce its operating cost to produce renewable fuel to less than $0.75 per gallon at Sierra, down from approximately $1.25 per gallon as previously disclosed.

On capital expenditure for the first commercial plant, “we are still looking at $180 million [as overall project cost],” noted Barraza.The cost of production at future Fulcrum plants is now expected to be less than $0.50 per gallon, down from $0.70 per gallon as previously disclosed. “These enhancements underscore our confidence in the attractive economics of our business model while further advancing Fulcrum as the industry’s low-cost producer of low-carbon transportation fuels,” added Macias.

More on the project.

3. Enerkem

Construction site of Enerkem Alberta Biofuels facility in Edmonton - May 2013

Construction site of Enerkem Alberta Biofuels facility in Edmonton – May 2013

Most recently, Enerkem announced that it has closed a $37.5 million financing with Waste Management of Canada Corporation, a subsidiary of Waste Management, and EB Investments for Enerkem Alberta Biofuels L.P.

At the same time, the company, which is currently constructing its first commercial facility in Edmonton, welcomed its first employees to the Enerkem Alberta Biofuels facility. It will use the City of Edmonton’s non recyclable and non compostable waste to produce 10 million gallons of renewable fuels and chemicals, and will create more than 30 permanent jobs, in addition to 200 jobs during construction.

The City of Edmonton and Enerkem Alberta Biofuels have signed a 25-year agreement to convert 100,000 tonnes of the City’s municipal solid waste into biofuels annually. The garbage to be used cannot be recycled or composted.

More on the projects.

4. Abengoa BioEnergy

abengoa-hugoton

Earlier this 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.

According to Abengoa, “the production of ethanol from municipal solid waste is a major technological breakthrough in the waste management model, since it increases the recovery rate, minimizes the carbon footprint and generates major benefits for society. It is a renewable and clean source of energy that helps to cut our dependency on fossil fuels while reducing greenhouse gas emissions per kilometer travelled by 70%. Furthermore, it maximizes the recovery of the organic fraction of the MSW and prevents more than 80% of the waste ending up in landfill.”

During the opening, Manuel Sánchez Ortega, CEO of Abengoa said, “This plant once again highlights Abengoa’s commitment to technological research and innovation, which has enabled it to maintain a competitive advantage in its sectors, leading projects with huge technological potential and programs that involve world-leading research centers and strategic partners”.

The ethanol produced at the plant may be used as a fuel, as an gasoline octane additive, as an intermediate for jet fuel production, or in chemical or pharma applications.

5. Solena Fuels

solena-fuels

Solena’s Integrated Biomass-Gas to Liquid “IBGTL” solution is based on a Fischer-Tropsch platform coupled with Solena’s proprietary high temperature plasma gasification technology to produce sustainable fuels from low carbon-bearing organic waste.

The company has several projects in development.

British Airways. In 2010, British Airways announced its GreenSky London project — and last November, the airline announced its binding offtake and investment commitment to GreenSky London. GreenSky London will transform tonnes of municipal waste – normally sent to landfills – into Bio-SPK, Green FT Diesel and Green FT Naphtha.

Lufthansa. Last September, Solena and Lufthansa announced the selection of a site at the PCK Industry Park in Schwedt/Oder located approximately 50 miles northeast of Berlin near the Poland border. Solena Berlin will be of the same design and capacity of GreenSky London.

Qantas.  Qantas and Solena Group announced in 2011 that they are developing a business case for a Fischer-Tropsch based biofuels plant in Sydney that will produce aviation biofuels from waste. The London project could utilize up to 500,000 tonnes of waste as feedstock for the project, and has a price tag of up to $309 million.

Turkish Airlines. Last June, we highlighted that Solena Fuels has teamed with Turkish Airlines to explore the potential use of renewable jetfuel as the airline looks to reduce its carbon emissions. Turkish Airlines has expanded its network offering significantly throughout Europe in recent years and will have to comply with European legislation to reduce carbon emissions.

More on the company.

6. Fiberight

fiberight

Fiberight has developed a Targeted Fuel Extraction process to cost effectively convert MSW into cellulosic biofuel, plant energy and marketable electricity. Fiberight’s TFE process separates, cleans and processes organic and hydrocarbon fractions, then converts the organic fraction into cellulosic biofuel, the hydrocarbon fraction into plant energy and electricity, and the inert fraction into recyclables or beneficial products. Novel technologies such as enzyme recycling and cellulosic sugar concentration have been developed to control costs and the company has tested these processes on a commercial scale.

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 UIowa 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.

More on the company.

7. Earth Energy Renewables

terrabon

Last week, former Terrabon CTO Cesar Granda told the Digest: “We are in the early stages of a new company, Earth Energy Renewables, which bought out all the Terrabon assets, data and IP from the bankruptcy and kept a few of the key employers in payroll .  Our focus is to ramp up with chemicals first producing acids and ketones, before we move on to fuels again, which we are still enthusiastic about. We are in fund raising mode at the moment, but research and progress is continuing at the lab and pilot plant level.”

Last year, Terrabon shocked the industry with its Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection; in a statement, Terrabon’s leadership said that company could not obtain additional corporate funding to finish developing and engineering its first commercial-scale plant.

Earth Energy Renewables is now developing the MixAlco technology, an acid fermentation process that converts biomass into organic salts. The resulting non-hazardous organic salts, or bio-crude, would be then shipped by truck, rail or pipeline to a Valero refinery or other centralized processing facility where it would be converted to a high-octane gasoline that can be blended directly into a refiner’s fuel pool, avoiding many of the blending and logistics challenges presented by ethanol.

As of last year, Terrabon had exceeded its goal of producing 70 gallons of renewable gasoline per ton of MSW using its patented acid fermentation technology.

More on the company.

8. Coskata

coskata

Yep, you may have heard they have abandoned biomass for natgas. Not exactly. They’ve always been feedstock flexible, and now they have prioritized natural gas owing to the low prices for gas and the attractive funding options.

“In North America there’s a golden opportunity,” Coskata CEO Bill Roe told the Digest. “The sea of natural gas is almost a problem, leading to historic price dislocation, and a level of availability that has not been seen for a long time. With our technology, it will give us a lower ethanol cost on a per gallon basis, and a remarkably lower capital cost because the kit that one needs to aggregate and gasify biomass, and then condition the syngas, is appreciably more than reforming natural gas.”

Accordingly, the company now plans to utilize natural gas as its exclusive feedstock for its first several commercial-scale projects. Now – keep in mind, Coskata was already utilizing natural gas for around one-third of its feedstock needs in its previously planned first commercial project in Alabama. What is notable here is the switch to an all-gas strategy.

“What we are not saying is that we are breaking ranks and abandoning feedstock flexibility,” reflected Coskata CEO Bill Roe, in discussing the directional shift with the Digest. Rich Troyer, Coskata’s chief business officer, echoes that “Coskata is not losing focus on biomass; it is still in our future.”

“What we are saying, Roe continues, “is that natural gas has moved to the front, as the first and most obvious feedstock that we can utilize for our commercialization strategy.”

“With our Alabama project being always 1/3 natural gas,” he added, “we began to get a schooling on natural gas availability. At the same time, across the board, that conventional wisdom that low gas prices would kill exploration and drilling began to change. The lifting cost in these formations began to be understood from the impact of horizontal drilling and fracking. Now, we understand it better, that there will be exploration opportunities that make sense even at $3 gas or just above that.”

More on the company.

9. BioenNW

bioennw

In 2011, we profiled an innovative $10.4 million bioenergy project which will see five European countries working together to develop bioenergy initiatives that will significantly reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, has been officially launched in the West Midlands.

BioenNW (Bioenergy North West) is focused on promoting the use of green bioenergy power facilities fuelled by waste materials across five regions of North West Europe: West Midlands (UK), Eindhoven (The Netherlands), Ile-de-France (France), North Reine Westphalia (Germany) and Wallonia (Belgium). Waste materials such as straw, wood, algae and sewage sludge could potentially be explored as sources of biofuel, therefore removing any reliance on the production of dedicated food crops.

10. Greenwood Fuels

greenwood-fuels

The Greenwood Energy renewable fuel manufacturing facility in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with an annual production capacity of approximately 150,000 tons, has been in operation since 2009.

“The most cost-effective way to pulp waste paper is using a drum pulper,”  said investor Ed Hamrick in a Digest column last year. “A drum pulper is a large rotating drum, usually at least 2.4 m (8 feet) in diameter and at least 20 m (65 feet) long. These are used all over the world to take waste paper.”

The Greenwood  solution for separating carbohydrates from MSW is based on this idea. MSW is pulped with process water in a heated drum pulper at high consistency transforming food waste and waste paper to a pulp. Ultimately, it produces three fractions from the MSW. The clean fraction with plastics, metals, glass and other inorganics can be separated using a materials recycling facility (MRF) to get some value from recyclables. The sugar-water fraction and the paper fiber fraction can be used together to produce ethanol or other products using enzymatic hydrolysis. The remainder after enzymatic hydrolysis can be used as a soil improver since there aren’t any heavy metals in the organic fractions.

“Water treatment is an under-appreciated requirement.” said Hamrick. “Garbage is dirty, and any time you pour water over garbage, it gets very dirty. You can’t just flush this water into the sewer. World Waste Technologies built a factory in Anaheim in 2006 to extract paper fibers from MSW. They went out of business and sold the factory for scrap because they were producing dirty water that would have cost more to clean than the money they’d make from the paper fibers. The Greenwood solution uses process water that’s refreshed by the 80% water in the food waste. No fresh water is used, and no waste water is treated. The water from the food waste is eventually disposed of with the residual organics as soil improvement or compost.

More on the company.

Category: Research

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