Domestic Fuel

S4 Energy Solutions has recently announced plans to develop a plasma gasification facility at Waste Management’s Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon. The facility will covert municipal solid waste into clean fuels and renewable energy. Construction is beginning in early summer and the plant will be online by the end of this year. During construction, 28 people will be employed with 16 being permanent once the facility is operational. S4 is a partnership between Waste Management and InEnTec, a deal that was solidified in May of 2009.

“Our goal is to extract as much value as possible from waste and this project will help us recover valuable resources to generate clean fuels, renewable energy and other beneficial products,” said Dean Kattler, area vice president for Waste Management Pacific Northwest. “This project strengthens our focus on renewable energy and new technologies that use waste as a resource. We are committed to growing our business in this region in innovative ways, bringing green jobs to communities where we already have operations and community relationships.”

Using S4’s PEM process, waste materials are prepared and fed into a phase gasification chamber that operates at nearly 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. Once this phase is complete, the waste materials flow into a second closed chamber where they are superheated using plasma, an electricity-conducting gas. Ultimately, the intense heat rearranges the molecular structure of the waste converting it into syngas. From here, the syngas can be converted into ethanol or diesel or into industrial products like hydrogen or methanol.

This site also features a landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) facility which captures methane gas created during decomposition and to use for electricity which powers 5,000 homes in Seattle. Sixty-seven windmills also generate 100 MW of electricity at the landfill and the power is sold to PacifiCorp.

Jeff Surma, president and chief executive officer of S4 Energy Solutions, concluded, “Plasma gasification has garnered a lot of attention recently, as we look for new ways to sustainably manage waste while recovering valuable resources. We believe the project will demonstrate commercial viability of the new S4 integrated system, so that we can implement this technology at many other locations for a wide variety of applications.”

A railroad will run one of its locomotives on hydrogen.

This article in the Orange County (CA) Register says the Burlington Northern Santa Fe will use the first locomotive powered by hydrogen-fuel cells:

Trains powered by hydrogen instead of diesel fuel could help solve two problems, officials said – provide an alternative to increasingly scarce fuel supplies and prevent millions of tons of carbon from being released into the environment.

The hydrogen-fuel train is a switch locomotive that moves train cars short distances and from track to track. It will initially operate in Los Angeles. The company plans to continue developing the technology, with the hope of eventually pulling entire freight trains through the region.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger calls it “the beginning steps of the technology.”

A group that trains technicians, fleet managers, law enforcement and first responders on how to handle today’s vehicles fueled by biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, propane and other renewables has added another college to its list of training sites.

BlueRidgeNow.com reports that Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Virginia is the latest member of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), the only nationwide alternative fuel vehicle and advanced technology vehicle training organization in the U.S.:

“Alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles, such as those powered by biodiesel, ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, propane, fuel-cell, and hybrid electric systems, are a means for improving air quality and breaking America’s addiction to foreign oil,” said Al Ebron, NAFTC executive director. “NAFTC National Training Centers help promote the adoption of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles through a variety of automotive training programs for technicians, fleet managers, public safety and first responder organizations and the public.”

“Our faculty and staff have worked diligently to bring this leading automotive training to Blue Ridge Community College,” said Blue Ridge President Dr. Molly A. Parkhill. “During the next year, we will develop additional courses and programs in alternative fuels to prepare our students for jobs in this rapidly growing industry.”

The first class will be an Introduction to Alternative Fuel Vehicles, a short course geared for automotive technicians who want to expand their skills in alternative fuels. It begins January 19th.

The University of South Carolina has launched an ambitious program that will convert all of its campus vehicles to biodiesel, ethanol and more green fuels.

This press release from the school says the “Genesis 2015 Initiative” will reduce the campus fleet’s carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent within five years:

The plan puts Carolina among the nation’s first campuses committed to reducing its dependence on petroleum by introducing alternative fuels to power the buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles and maintenance vehicles needed in the everyday life of the university…

Within five years, all vehicles on the Columbia campus will be powered by ethanol, biodiesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity or hydrogen fuel cells. A hydrogen hybrid bus will become part of the university’s shuttle service in January.

University officials say they already have 156 vehicles that can be converted to run on alternatives right away. The total carbon savings is expected to top 2,000 tons.

Linde North America, a member of The Linde Group, which is one of the world’s largest hydrogen energy producers, will be showcasing two of its green fueling options to California residents during the San Francisco International Auto Show, which opens on Thanksgiving day.

The first featured project highlights refuse trucks that are running on natural gas. The fuel is produced at a plant in Linde built in Livermore, and is in partnership with Waste Management. The plant captures gases from landfill garbage and coverts them to liquefied natural gas. The second project of note is with the San Francisco International Airport. Beginning in 2010, the airport will begin running a fleet of shuttle buses as well as fuel cell vehicles and Linde is building a hydrogen fueling station to meet these needs.

“Filling up the tank in California has gotten cleaner and greener in recent months,” said Mike Beckman, Linde’s Vice President, Alternative Energy. “Linde believes alternative energy technologies such as hydrogen and biogas will clean our environment, boost energy diversity, and spur economic growth. But we need to make it easy for average citizens to take advantage of these alternative fuels.”

People who attend the auto show can visit the company’s booth #1083 to learn more about both of these projects.

A Massachusetts company is working on developing a cheap catalyst that will separate water molecules to harvest the hydrogen for home use.

This story from Greentech Media says Sun Catalytix wants to use solar power to unlock the molecules. If successful, the process could open the door for sources of water that are less than perfect:

Conventional means of extracting hydrogen requires clean water, and water purification equipment can be costly, [Bob Metcalfe, a partner at Polaris and a member of the Sun Catalytix's board of directors] said. The startup’s catalyst, on the other hand, would use cheap, an inorganic compound that doesn’t require clean water.

“The catalyst is self-repairing,” Metcalfe said. “It’ll self deposit on the electrodes.”

Sun Catalytix has raised $3 million in capital for the project so far and is set to receive about $4.1 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

High school seniors who are looking to further their education in the fields of science or technology will get some help from a world leader in hydrogen energy.

Proton Energy Systems has announced the $1 million Proton Energy Scholarship program aimed at recognizing outstanding achievement, excellence and promise in science or technology:

The scholarship program is supported and funded by Tom Sullivan, owner of Proton Energy and founder of the national chain Lumber Liquidators. The scholarship will award four-year undergraduate scholarship prizes with a total value of up to $100,000 each. Honorable Mentions, Proton Energy Achievers, will be awarded $500 prizes. Sullivan has committed $1 million to the Hydrogen Education Foundation (HEF), who is administering the scholarship program.

Proton Energy is the world’s leading supplier of onsite hydrogen generators utilizing PEM (proton exchange membrane) technology, which creates high purity hydrogen from de-mineralized water and electricity. The company has been developing and manufacturing world-class electrolysis systems since 1996, with more than 1200 units deployed world-wide, on every continent. Proton Energy has also been involved in more than a dozen hydrogen fueling stations currently in operation around the nation, and its commitment to innovation has been recognized with contracts from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.

This scholarship is aimed at being a complement to the Hydrogen Education Foundation’s Hydrogen Student Design Contest and the H-Prize, which respectively hold competitions for university-level students and innovators seeking excellence beyond higher education.

Applications are due February 10, 2010 with winners announced on April 15, 2010. More information is available here.

Hydrogen will be part of the discussion at Energy & Environment Week… a look at new energy sources, including bioenergy with biomass heat & power and biogas; energy from waste & secondary raw materials recovery; alternative vehicle fuels including biofuels, hydrogen & electric mobility; and energy efficiency in industrial processes going on April 12-16, 2010 in Pittsburgh, PA.

This press release says the hydrogen portion of the conference is being organized by the Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council in association with Freesen & Partner GmbH on April 13-15, 2010.

The Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council, a non-profit trade association, is pleased to accept the invitation of Freesen & Partner GmbH to develop and conduct the hydrogen energy conference at EEW. Freesen is the producer of the EEW (www.ee-week.com) which will be held at the Pittsburgh Convention Center. The EEW will include four topical conferences: hydrogen, bioenergy, recycling and energy efficiency. The EEW is designed to raise the profile and intensity of renewable energy in the United States.

“The MSHBC conferences have received worldwide recognition for their quality and we believe their leadership in hydrogen will contribute to the impact of the EEW” stated Dr. Ines Freesen, managing director of Freesen & Partner GmbH.

This conference announcement comes after the MSHBC’s successful 5th Annual Hydrogen Energy Implementation Conference in Charleston, WV that was built around the opening of the hydrogen production and dispensing facility at Yeager Airport.

Mark your calendar for October 1st and 2nd for the third annual Alternative Energy Symposium held at the campus of Chicago State University.

The event is put on by the folks at American Science Technology’s Center for Alternative Energy Technology (CAET):

Renewable and sustainable energy derived from natural resources could hold the key to the United States not only reducing its reliance on foreign oil, but also reducing its impact on the global environment. CAET is a joint initiative between Chicago-based American Science and Technology (AST) and Chicago State University (CSU), established in 2006, in the south-side of Chicago, to perform basic and applied research to evaluate, develop, and commercialize alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, as well as alternative energy technologies such as fuel-cells, and energy harvesting from solar, wind, and other natural resources.

The symposium will highlight the work so far by the CSU and AST scientists as well as other work by researchers at universities and laboratories from around the world.

It’s open to the public, and you can get more information and register here.

Drivers now can take a popular tool on the road thanks to the staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The Mobile Alternative Fueling Station Locator (MAFSL) helps on-the-go drivers find the five closest biodiesel, electricity, E85 (ethanol), hydrogen, natural gas, and propane fueling sites using any mobile device with Internet access.

Before launching the device, NREL said that their Alternative Fueling Station Locator was among the top five applications used on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (AFDC) website. The station locator was developed by NREL which manages AFDC.

The mobile station locator works through well-known, easy to use applications such as Google Maps, which generates maps to fueling sites. In addition to the location, the locator will also give the user the contact information, including phone number and business hours for the station.

NREL says that it is taking some changes into consideration due to consumer feedback. In the past, private fueling stations were not included but they have been added. In addition, they are considering adding automatic location detetection using GPS installed in the device, a special applicaton for the iPhone and creating a similar application for truck stop electrification sites. In addition, the database will be updated continously.