The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a conditional commitment for a $25 million guaranteed loan under the Biorefinery Assistance Program for Fiberight to build a biorefinery in Blairstown, Iowa.

The loan will be used to construct a 55,000 square foot facility that will produce cellulosic ethanol by converting municipal solid waste and other industrial pulps into advanced biofuels, as well as using conventional renewable biofuel derived from seed corn waste. When operational, the facility is expected to produce approximately 3.6 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. The process will use a cellulosic microbe to produce up to 15 percent more ethanol than traditional fermentation technology, and reduce energy inputs in the fermentation and distillation process. Fiberight estimates the project will create 38 jobs and save 16 jobs.

”Advanced Biofuels are going commercial – and the innovation behind turning trash into biofuels demonstrates how our industry can create jobs and solve our nation’s energy needs,” says Adam Monroe, President of Novozymes North America. ”Novozymes is proud to be a partner to this project, supplying the enzymes to turn household and office waste into advanced biofuels. We applaud the federal government for its leadership in helping bring biofuels to market.”

Biotech company Novozymes is one of Fiberight’s partners in the project. ”Advanced Biofuels are going commercial – and the innovation behind turning trash into biofuels demonstrates how our industry can create jobs and solve our nation’s energy needs,” says Adam Monroe, President of Novozymes North America.

Under the conditional commitment, Fiberight must meet specified conditions before the loan guarantee can be completed. Other funding comes from the State of Iowa. Fiberight also received a $2.5 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund in 2010. The company will work with the Benton County landfill to supply a portion of the feedstock for the project. The total project cost is estimated at $59.5 million. Fiberight, LLC was incorporated in 2007 for the purpose of converting an existing ethanol facility into a cellulosic ethanol facility in Blairstown.

“We chose Vogelbusch’s distillation and dehydration systems for their proven capabilities, which are vital as we commercialize our advanced bioenergy technology,” said Mark Niederschulte, COO of INEOS Bio. “Our project is on schedule, and we look forward to working closely with Vogelbusch as we bring this advanced biorefinery online in 2012.”

The project will use INEOS Bio’s feedstock-flexible BioEnergy technology, which combines gasification and fermentation technologies, to turn different types of waste materials, including municipal solid waste, into advanced biofuels and renewable power. When completed, the BioEnergy Center will be the first commercial facility in the world to use this advanced technology with the capacity to manufacture eight million gallons of cellulosic ethanol and provide power for 1400 homes in the area.

The plant is scheduled to begin operations in the second quarter of 2012.

“This funding will help local producers increase the production and availability of renewable energy and thus help our nation begin to reduce its reliance on foreign oil,” Vilsack said. “Just as importantly, USDA’s support will help to further develop the nation’s growing biofuels industry and generate green jobs and economic growth.”

The funding is being provided through USDA’s Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels program, the same program that provided $80 million in payments last month. Under this program, payments are made to eligible producers based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch – including cellulose; crop residue; animal, food and yard waste material; biogas (landfill and sewage waste treatment gas); vegetable oil, and animal fat.

Eighteen companies will receive over $1 million, four of them are over $2 million – including Renewable Energy Group of Iowa with $3.7 million; White Energy in Kansas at $3.1 million; Louis Dreyfus in Indiana with $2.4 million and Ag Processing of Nebraska at almost $2.1 million. The majority of the highest payments are for Biodiesel Trans Esterification, with a good percentage for advanced ethanol production, biofuel from waste and anaerobic digesters.

See the full list of recipients here.

The project called “The Plant” was recently awarded a total of $1.5 million in grant funds from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to support a comprehensive renewable energy system that will accept up to 12,000 tons of food scraps annually. Most of the material will be spent grain from an onsite craft brewery, New Chicago Brewing Company, and from other breweries around Chicago – material that is currently sent to landfills.

By installing an anaerobic digester and combined heat and power system, The Plant will create about 380 kilowatts of electricity and 2.1 million BTU of heat – enough to meet the full energy needs of the 93,500 square-foot facility. The digester will allow The Plant to become independent of the grid and produce power and heat at between one-quarter and one-third of current utility costs to its tenants. In addition to the craft brewery, The Plant has plans for a bakery and aquaponics growing systems.

The total project costs are approximately $3 million and will be completed by June 2013.

The gasifier underwent several performance tests with multiple feedstocks including but not limited to refused-derived fuel (RDF), tire derived fuel mixed with RDF, wood chips, wheat straw, switchgrass, and corn stover. Combined with ICM’s thermal oxidizer and heat sink, the WESP 2-F system cleans removes all particulate matter as well as acid gases from a variety of fuel sources and meets all levels of emission control requirements.

“We’re thrilled with the recent commercial deployment of our biomass gasifier technology, as it allows us to offer our waste-to-energy system on a global level,” said ICM CEO Dave Vander Griend.”Recognizing the strength of collaborative partnerships, ICM is pleased to work with EISENMANN and their WESP technology to enhance our biomass gasifier applications.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a waste-to-energy bioprocessing facility under construction in Florida today to announce that the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) have awarded 10 grants totaling $12.2 million to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy crops. The grants are part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to develop domestic renewable energy and advanced biofuels, providing a more secure future for America’s energy needs and creating new opportunities for the American farming industry.

“USDA is helping our nation develop the next generation of biofuels to grow jobs and generate energy from new, homegrown sources,” said Vilsack. “Combining DOE’s leadership in genome-scale technologies with USDA’s experience in crop improvement will accelerate the efficient production of biofuels.”

The 10 projects are located in California, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia.

Vilsack made the announcement at the INEOS New Planet BioEnergy facility in Vero Beach, Fla., which was granted a conditional USDA loan guarantee earlier this year to help build and operate a biorefinery capable of producing 8 million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol and 6 megawatts of electricity.

Today’s USDA and DOE joint announcement will also benefit Florida by providing grant funding to the University of Florida in Gainesville to improve energy production from cane biomass. The project will produce a range of foundational genetic resources and genetic makers for energy cane breeders to efficiently develop energy cane cultivars with increased biomass production and reduced input requirement.

Vilsack will tour the INEOS New Planet BioEnergy facility in Vero Beach. The company received a $75 million USDA loan guarantee earlier this year to help build and operate a biorefinery capable of producing eight million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol and six megawatts of electricity from waste. The plant broke ground in February and is expected to be complete by spring of 2012.

At INEOS, Vilsack will announce a series of joint USDA and Department of Energy grants to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy crops.

RockTenn has been producing thousands of tons per day. For many years, the company has been storing the plastic in company-owned plastic-only landfills. Now, rather than disposing of the plastics, JBI will mine it for biofuels.

“We are honored that RockTenn has chosen JBI to be its long-term partner in this venture and believe this provides further validation that we have a viable commercial process to handle not only the critical issue of waste by-product but also rising energy costs,” said JBI’s Founder & CEO John Bordynuik. “RockTenn has the industrial relationship and feedstock to support hundreds of Plastic2Oil™ processors. We anticipate a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties and intend to expand as quickly as possible.

Bordynuik continued, “RockTenn currently has sites that can support clusters of processors. In preparation for this agreement, we have designed our processors to be modular ’plug and play’ to allow rapid deployment across RockTenn’s locations.”

“This is a special milestone in our journey to develop the cleanest fleet of heavy duty trucks in our industry,” said Duane Woods, senior vice president at Waste Management. “We are pleased that we have so many natural gas trucks now in service, particularly in Southern California where clean air is such a critical issue.”

One third of WM’s fleet is now fueled by liquified natural gas (LNG) derived from the decomposition of organic waste delivered and processed at the Altamont Landfill located in Livermore, California. The plant began producing LNG in November 2009, and in this time has been generating up to 13,000 gallons of LNG per day.

WM says that LNG is a “virtually zero-carbon transportation fuel,” and with its current fleet, will displace nearly 8 million gallons of petroleum and 45,100 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.  In addition to its fleet, the company also has 17 compressed natural gas (CNG) and LNG fueling stations located at its facilities with more installations under development. The company also hopes to develop a new landfill-gas-to-LNG facility at its landfill located in Simi Valley, California, a facility that would be similar to its LNG facility at Altamont.

Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, added, “I’m pleased to celebrate the opening of this new facility that’s quite literally turning trash into fuel, and helping us reach our environmental goals by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and creating a healthier atmosphere for all Californians.”

“Alberta may be known for our oil and gas, but projects like this one prove we are leaders in green energy development too,” said the Honourable Greg Weadick, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. “Countries worldwide want greener energy and there’s no other place with our combination of research talent, one-of-a-kind infrastructure, and background in energy development to bring this kind of technology to the world.”

The waste-to-energy plant, being built by Enerkem Alberta Biofuels, will be able to produce biofuels and biochemicals from various waste products include non-hazardous waste from the oil and gas industry, ag and forestry waste and organic waste from the municipal sector. This project is just one part of a $132.5 million waste-to-energy project that also includes a municipal waste processing facility being built by the City of Edmonton.

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said of the project, “Edmonton is a pioneer in waste management and this research centre helps us enter the next phase of our strategy, which is to recover value from waste that can’t be recycled or composted.This is a major component of the City’s plan to manage our waste in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner.”

The Advanced Energy Research Facility was supported in part by the Government of Alberta though a $29 million AI-EES grant as well as $3.35 million from Alberta Energy. In addition, the City of Edmonton contributed $43.5 million to the project.

Vincent Chornet, President and CEO of Enerkem added, “Enerkem is proud to take part in this innovative project, by providing its leading technology and expertise in the conversion of waste into biochemicals and clean fuels. This state-of-the-art facility will attract high calibre researchers from around the world, and will lead to the production of more sustainable products.”

This is not the first time poop has been studied to make fuel. Companies have tried to use the waste from large scale cattle farms and from zoo animals. But this project is a bit different. Chandran is working with Ashley Murray, founder and director of Waste Enterprisers, and Moses Mensah, a Chemical Engineering professor at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, to develop an innovative technology to transform fecal sludge into biodiesel and create the “Next-Generation Urban Sanitation Facility” in Accra, Ghana.

“We are delighted to be awarded this project,” Chandran says. “And we are especially pleased that the Gates Foundation has recognized the critical importance of sustainable sanitation by investing in our pioneering project. Thus far, sanitation approaches have been extremely resource- and energy-intensive and therefore out of reach for some of the world’s poorest but also most at-need populations. This project will allow us to move forward and develop practical technologies that will be of great value around the world.”

Chandran has been working in Ghana for two years as the faculty advisor for the Columbia University Engineers without Borders Ghana team. He and his team have a goal of developing a bioprocess technology to convert the organic compounds present in fecal sludge to biodiesel and methane. In essence, this would convert the waste-processing facility into a state-of-the art biorefinery.

Not only would this biorefinery produce economical fuel but would also minimize the discharge of fecal sludge into the water system contributing to better human health and sanitation. Chandran hopes that once the project is proven successful, it could be integrated into a social enterprise business model that would improve economics and health in areas around the world.

Chandran concluded, “This project also affords a new path in engineering education, both in the United States and Ghana. By training tomorrow’s engineers in sustainable approaches to ‘resource and energy recovery’ rather than ‘wastewater treatment,’ a sea-change can be achieved in the way we perceive of and manage human waste. In fact, the term ‘wastewater’ is already archaic. Wastewater is, after all, just water with a different chemical and biological composition.”

“Waste Management wants to maximize the value of the materials it manages,” said Tim Cesarek, managing director of Organic Growth at Waste Management. “Agnion’s technology complements Waste Management’s advancement of thermo-chemical conversion technology platforms and could enhance our suite of waste processing options.”

According to Agnion, their Heatpipe-Reformer design provides a flexible, small-scale on-site gasification technology solution with a relatively low upfront capital cost. The technology is ideal for schools/universities, warehouses/distribution centers, shopping malls, hotels, and hospitals.

“We view the fact that North America’s largest residential recycler and leading waste and environmental solutions provider has decided to invest in Agnion and our Heatpipe-Reformer technology as a tremendous honor and a vote of confidence,” said Agnion CEO, Dr. Stephan Mey. “Our first commercial biomass gasification plant is currently under construction in the Bavarian town of Grassau and we plan to build other plants in Europe and North America.”

“The juncture of new energy and new agriculture requires smart ideas and practical commercial outcomes,” said Steven Burke, CEO of the Biofuels Center. “The 15 awarded projects-encompassing rural communities and woody biomass, technology and municipal solid waste-verify the competence, scope, and remarkably rapid development of this new sector statewide.”

Within the Center’s legislative and policy mandate is the need to strengthen and fund projects leading to biofuels commercialization. These objectives also help the state meet its renewable energy goal of having 10 percent of its liquid transportation fuels by 2017 produced from locally grown biofuels feedstocks and produced in the state.

The program sought projects targeting three areas: county or regional analyses of assets available for site location of biofuels companies; needs analyses and plans for the conversion of municipal waste into biofuels; and the growing of energy grasses in the North Carolina Piedmont region. The awarded projects will impact 60 counties and will in various ways address biofuels ranging in variety from biogasoline and bioethanol to FT diesel, and biomass-derived jet fuel.

Click here for a full list of award recipients.

“We’re extremely pleased to announce the commercialization of our gasifier technology. We believe that ICM’s past experience in delivering technology to the renewable energy sector, coupled with our favorable reputation with lenders, makes the ICM gasification technology an extremely valuable and rare option for clients seeking gasification technology solutions,” said Dave Vander Griend, President and CEO of ICM.

Since 2009, ICM has successfully tested more than 13 feedstocks, processed 7,000 tons of biomass, and amassed more than 2,100 hours of operation. The various feedstocks tested include refuse-derived fuel (RDF) generated from municipal solid waste (MSW), tire-derived fuel (TDF) mixed with RDF, wood chips, pine bark, wheat straw, corn stover, chicken litter, switchgrass, automobile shredded residue (ASR) mixed with RDF, and other biomass/energy crops.

“It was critically important for ICM to invest heavily in a commercial-scale demonstration unit to prove the feedstock-flexible capabilities of this robust technology, which dates back to 1975, as well as to give potential customers and lenders the comfort and reassurance they need to finance waste-to-energy and biomass-to-energy projects,” added Tom Ranallo, Vice President of Operations for ICM.

In addition to producing syngas, ICM’s biomass gasification platform also has the ability to co-produce biochar, a type of charcoal, that has the ability to store carbon dioxide in the soil for thousands of years when buried.

Fulcrum Bioenergy is in the process of building a waste-to-ethanol plant just outside of Reno, Nevada using ordinary household garbage and converting it to ethanol, electricity and biochemicals. The plant is fully permitted, engineered and equity financed and the company is in the final stages of documentation to close on a DOE Loan Guarantee that is the final piece for their financing. Once that piece is in place, Fulcrum will start construction and begin producing renewable ethanol at the end of 2012. It is important to note that Fulcrum has been working on the DOE loan for more than 2 years.

When the first plant in Reno is complete, it will produce 10 million gallons of ethanol per year and 16 megawatts of electricity. From there, Fulcrum plans to roll out 20 more sites, already selected, and Macias said the feedstock contracts are already in place. When these 20 sites are in production, they will produce 1 billion gallons of ethanol per year from garbage.

Yet if the DOE Loan Guarantee program gets axed not only would his project die, but any project that has been awarded DOE Loan Guarantees since 2009 would lose their funding.

“It’s very challenging for first-of-a-kind commercial plants to to get fully funded in normal economic times, and federal support for new technologies like this, loan guarantees play a very valuable role in closing the funding gap. We’ve raised all the equity capital to construct it including coverage for potential overruns, and the DOE loan guarantee provides a very important step to help these emerging technologies.”

Macias said its important for emerging technologies to receive government support during good economic times, but even more critical now due to the lack of capital fund and bank credit caused by the ongoing recession. He stressed that the loan guarantee program has played a critical role in helping these technologies that are ready for commercial demonstration to get there.

Macias concluded that if the DOE Loan Guarantee Program is rescinded, it would set back the industry. He also said it would be “devastating to breaking our [America's] dependence on imported oil and reducing the price of oil.”

You can listen to my full interview with Fulcrum Bioenergy CEO, Jim Macias here: Jim Macias Discusses DOE Loan Guarantee Program

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 the local community.

“We are excited to celebrate this important milestone, which moves advanced biofuels a step closer to achieving significant scale, enabling the U.S. to achieve a leading position in the bioenergy sector,” said Peter Williams, Chairman of INPB and CEO of INEOS Bio. “As part of our goal of advancing the biofuels industry, educating people about the benefits of this technology and creating demand for advanced biofuels, we will continue to license this world-changing technology to partners across the U.S. and beyond, bringing secure, renewable fuel and power to communities worldwide.”

When production starts in mid-2012, the Indian River BioEnergy Center will produce eight million gallons of bioethanol and six megawatts (gross) of renewable power, of which approximately two megawatts will be exported to the local community. This renewable electricity will be able to power approximately 1,400 homes. Located at a former citrus processing plant site in Vero Beach, Florida, the BioEnergy Center will provide 380 direct and indirect jobs (including 175 construction jobs) over the next two years and 50 full-time jobs in Indian River County where, current unemployment is at 13.6 percent, the 23rd highest metro area in the nation.

One of the first people I spoke with was Ted Michaels with the Energy Recovery Council based in Washington DC. The first question I asked him was how has the technology developed from the 1970s until now? Michaels began by explaining that the commercial waste-to-energy industry has existed since 1975 and today there are 86 waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities in 24 states that turn trash into energy through combustion.

The biggest differentiation of WTE facilities today, versus the WTE facilities of yesteryear, according to Michaels, are their ability to capture the energy and their utilization of emission control equipment. “America’s waste-to-energy facilities meet some of the most stringent environmental standards in the world and employ the most advanced emissions control equipment available,” said Michaels. “In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency concluded in 2003 that America’s waste-to-energy plants have demonstrated “dramatic decreases” in air emissions, and produce electricity “with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.”

According to Michaels, WTE achieves the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) through three separate mechanisms: 1) by generating electrical power or steam, waste-to-energy avoids carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel based electrical generation; 2) the waste-to-energy combustion process effectively avoids all potential methane emissions from landfills thereby avoiding any potential release of methane in the future; and 3) the recovery of ferrous and nonferrous metals from MSW by waste-to-energy is more energy efficient than production from raw materials.

Michaels explains that these three mechanisms provide a true accounting of the greenhouse gas emission reduction potential of waste-to-energy. “A lifecycle analysis, such as the EPA Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool, is the most accurate method for understanding and quantifying the complete accounting of any MSW management option,” explained Michaels.

“A life cycle approach examines collection and transportation, material recovery facilities, transfer stations, composting, remanufacturing, landfills, and combustion. EPA studies show that waste-to-energy yields the best results—maximum energy with the least environmental impact (emissions of greenhouse gas, nitrogen oxide, fine particulate precursors, and others). In brief, waste-to-energy was demonstrated to be the best waste management option for both energy and environmental parameters and specifically for greenhouse gas emissions.

The next question, then, is the amount of opportunity in WTE. Is it worth the effort? Michaels said that the 86 WTE facilities in the U.S. have an electric generating capacity of 2700 megawatts through the management of 7 percent of the nation’s trash. More than 60 percent of our country’s trash currently goes to landfills so there are still a lot of opportunities to reduce landfill waste as communities continue to look for ways to reduce landfilling.

Let’s step back a minute and talk about how many homes can be powered by 7 percent our our trash. One megawatt can power 650 homes for one year so 2700 megawatts can power approximately 1,755,000 average U.S. homes for one year. In other words, 7 percent of our trash could power all the homes in North and South Dakota (est. combined populations in ’09 1.5 million people) with a little to spare.

While this seems pretty amazing, there are obviously challenges to developing the industry. Environmental policies are a major hurdle, as well as capital costs are high since WTE plants are, in essence, sophisticated power plants. Michaels said that in most communities, the WTE is one of their largest pieces of municipal infrastructure and when compared to the relative low cost of landfills, WTE requires planning and capital which many communities may find difficult to provide.

So let’s circle back to the technology. Here is a description of how it works from Michaels.

“The modern waste-to-energy plant is a technical marvel. It must burn a fuel ranging in size from a pea to a mattress. The fuel can be wet or dry, and it varies greatly in energy content. These plants burn the trash completely and scrub their exhaust with a number of sophisticated air pollution control systems to constantly comply with federal, state and local regulations. The first step in processing the trash is the receiving building. Most municipalities served by waste-to-energy plants have a recycling program, so the trash that is received at the plant has already had recyclables removed.

The trash is loaded into the furnaces. In the furnace, high temperature combustion completely destroys viruses, bacteria, rotting food and other organic compounds found in household garbage that could potentially impact human health. The heat from the burning garbage boils water flowing inside the boiler tubes and turns the water into steam.The steam can be used directly in a heating system or a factory. The steam is generally used to turn a turbine-generator to make electricity. After the combustion process, magnets and other mechanical devices pull metals from the ash for recycling.”

Okay. We know that no technology or fuel is perfect and WTE has its drawbacks. I asked Michaels, in his opinion, what these were. He answered that municipal solid waste is a difficult fuel to manage given the broad spectrum of materials that can be present in the trash in various quantities.

“The composition of the trash makes the energy efficiency less than that of other fuels, such as coal. However, trash is a fuel that is used for fuel rather than putting it in the ground, whereas coal is extracted from the Earth for the sole purpose of electric generation. In that respect, WTE is really solving two problems at once,” said Michaels.

In terms of the next generation of WTE, on the horizon (and in some cases already in action) is waste-to-energy through gasification, pyrolysis and plasma arc, all technolgies will will look at deeper in future installments of this series.

“We want to extract the highest value possible from the materials we manage. Recycling organics through composting and other technologies that may produce energy, transportation fuels or specialty chemicals enables us to generate more value from this specific material stream,” said Tim Hawkins, market area vice president for Waste Management. “With this facility, we will be able to offer southern Florida customers dedicated organics processing capability as well as generate beneficially useful products such as nutrient-rich organic compost that can close the loop with local homes and businesses in South Florida.”

Recycling is becoming more and more important in waste management and companies are looking for creative and cost effective ways to reduce waste and lessen environmental impact. Waste Management (WM) is looking at organics recycling as one possible solution to both waste management but also as a new revenue stream. To accelerate their pathway into the marketplace, WM acquired a major equity interest in Garick LLC, a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of organic lawn and garden products. In addition, the company has invested in technologies to convert waste into transportation fuels, petrochemicals and chemicals.

According to WM, North America generates over 80 million tons of organic waste each year. In the United States, approximately a third of municipal solid waste is organic, including food, yard and wood waste. Approximately 65 percent of yard waste and 2.5 percent of food waste collected in the United States is currently diverted from disposal.

She writes, “Waste-to-Energy Plants Should Be Called Waste of Energy…But here’s the deal: first off, the little bit of energy recovered from burning trash is a very dirty energy, releasing far more greenhouse gases than burning natural gas, oil, or even coal. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, waste incinerators produce 1,355 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour; coal produces 1,020, oil 758, and natural gas 515.”

Leonard continues, “Second, let’s step back and look at the grand scheme of things for a moment. When you bum something, the most energy you can recover is a fraction of the energy value (the “calories”) of the actual material; you can’t recover any of the energy investments of that thing’s entire lifecycle….If the ultimate goal is to conserve energy, we could “produce” far more energy by reusing and recycling Stuff than we ever could by burning it.”

So in a nutshell, waste-to-energy pollutes, it has a negative net energy, it doesn’t create jobs, they don’t eliminate the need for landfills and they are not economically feasible to name a few reasons to not like the energy source. You’ll also note that for the most part, these are the very same reasons (minus the waste-to-energy reduces pollution) opponents support waste-to-energy.

So who is right and why should we care? Well I was bothered knowing that millions and millions of people have visited her website and watched her videos and they may be getting outdated information. So I’m taking action.

In just a few weeks, the Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels Summit is taking place in Chicago. On February 10-11, 2011, hundreds of people will be coming to together to discuss the up and coming waste-to-energy technologies. Leading up to this conference, I’m kicking off a 7-part series, “An In-depth Look at Waste’s Role in Energy Development.”

This series will explore the developments of waste-to-energy from the 70s or so until now. It will delve more deeply into Leonard’s claim that waste-to-energy plants actually produce more greenhouse gases than coal, oil and natural gas, It will discuss the opportunities and challenges in the industry, and it will feature various companies’ technologies who are excited for the opportunity to “clean” up the misconceptions surrounding waste-to-energy.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says Renewable BioSystems LLC’s (RBL) system will initially be able to turn 500,000 gallons of yellow grease into oil for biodiesel feedstock each year and could be scaled-up to more than 5 million tons of oil annually:

The oil extraction technology supplied by RBL was originally developed in England. “Our company [formed] at the end of 2008,” said RBL CEO Peter Behrle. “My partner and I came from the biodiesel business, where we were continually frustrated by the high cost of feedstocks…We had gone in search of technologies that might provide less expensive feedstocks. We bumped into this technology in England and we licensed it for exclusive sale and manufacture in North America.”

According to Behrle, the quality of oil that comes out of the process depends on the organic material that is introduced into the machine. “We don’t change the quality of the oil,” he said. “We just extract the oil.” For example, an RBL machine that takes in fresh offal would produce a high-quality oil with extremely low free fatty acid (FFA) content. However, if the machine is processing an organic waste material that has been allowed to degrade over a long period of time, the resulting oil will be higher in FFAs. “We’ll always have very low water and very low impurities,” Behrle continued. “The oil will be good in that respect, but the FFAs will all depend on how quickly the material can be processed.”

The machine is scheduled to be installed during the first quarter of this year.

“We are encouraged by the continued confidence and commitment the U.S. Government has shown in assisting with the commercial development of this new bioenergy technology,” said Peter Williams, CEO of INEOS Bio and Chairman of INEOS New Planet BioEnergy. “These programs are providing the funds needed to enable the U.S. to achieve a leading position in the bioenergy sector through projects such as ours. As well as directly assisting construction of the INEOS New Planet BioEnergy commercial plant, the loan guarantee also represents an important step along the road to replication of this exciting new technology through INEOS Bio’s licensing program.”

According to INEOS, the key to their technology lies in their patented anaerobic fermentation step. During this process, naturally occurring bacteria convert gases derived from the biomass into ethanol. Their technology is also able to use multiple feedstocks including construction waste, municipal solid waste, forestry waste, and agricultural waste, while most other similar technologies are feedstock specific.

The report examined projected private investment in wind, solar, biomass/energy from waste, small hydro, geothermal and marine energy projects. To predict the levels of private investments into projects, the report modeled three policy scenarios to determine future growth through 2020:

• * Business-as-usual – no change from current policies: total investment projected to be $1.7 trillion by 2020
• * Copenhagen – policies to implement the pledges made at the 2009 international climate negotiations in Copenhagen: total investment projected to be $1.8 trillion
• * Enhanced clean energy – maximized policies designed to stimulate increased investment and capacity additions – total investment projected to be $2.3 trillion

“The message of this report is clear: countries that want to maximize private investments, spur job creation, invigorate manufacturing and seize export opportunities should strengthen their clean energy policies,” said Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Climate and Energy program.

The report found that the clean energy sector continues to be an immense economic opportunity and Asia became the top regional destination for clean power finance in 2010. Within the region, China and India are leading the way (in all energy demand, not just clean energy demand) and by 2020, the report anticipates that 40 percent of global clean power project investments will be made in China, India, Japan, and South Korea.

Michael Liebreich, CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the company that compiled the underlying data for the report said, “Strong and consistent policies in Asia have helped double private investment over the past two years. Asia is now the leading region for clean energy investment, and its lead is set to extend in the near future unless Europe and the US make a step change in their support for the sector.”

While the U.S. is currently lagging far behind in private investments in clean energy, the report found that they are among those with the most to gain from passing strong clean energy policies. The report cites an example that says the U.S. has the potential to attract $342 billion in clean power project investments over the next 10 years under the Enhanced clean energy scenario.

You can download a copy of Global Clean Power: A $2.3 Trillion Opportunity here.

On average, more than 97 percent of waste materials from GM’s zero-landfill plants are recycled or reused and less than 3 percent is converted to energy at waste-to-energy facilities, replacing fossil fuel use.

“We’re committed to reducing our environmental impact,” said Mike Robinson, vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy at GM. “Whether it’s a facility that’s already achieved landfill-free status or one of the many that are nearly there, every site is serious about finding ways to reduce and reuse waste.”

The first step in the process for each plant was for employees to focus on reducing the amount of waste generated. From there, as much as possible, the waste was recycled. Each month, the plants monitor, measure and report on their performance against waste-reduction goals. The collected data, that originally set the stage for the landfill-free initiative, demonstrates what materials are being generated, reused and recycled, and reveals areas for improvement. Ultimately, The results helped form a process that enables all facilities to replicate best practices.

According to a GM news release, this year the company has recycled or reused 2.5 million tons of waste materials at its plants worldwide that would fill 6.8 million extended-cab pickup trucks. If parked end-to-end they would stretch around the world.

“It’s all about being creative, lean and rethinking traditional manufacturing processes,” said John Bradburn, manager of GM’s waste-reduction efforts. “When you think of what it would take for a family of four to not produce any trash for a year, that’s quite a task. This is 76 sites around the world and about 70,000 employees committed to the cause.”

Bradburn continued, “I believe our employees were willing to engage because they could relate to what it means. People don’t want to be wasteful; they want to help the environment. It’s become a sense of pride for those that work at those facilities, and it reflects in quality and throughput.”

I felt pretty good for years to come but that enthusiasm has waned as I’ve learned that recycling programs are barely effective and we still generate too much stuff. “The Story of Stuff” came of out the internet movie sensation by the same name. Author Annie Leonard has been traveling around the world for more than 20 years learning about the world’s obsession with “Stuff.”. Not only do we have too much, but its too toxic. According to Leonard, we’re also using our natural resources far faster than the Earth can replenish them.

Leonard explains that the expanding economic system is about to hit a wall. It is running up against the limits of our planet’s capacity to sustain life. Economists predict that with the rate of growing populations, especially those in countries like China and India, coupled with the amount of CO2 emissions created from the production and transportation of our Stuff, we’re in trouble.

“Put it simply, if we do not redirect our extraction and production systems and change the way we distribute, consume, and dispose of our Stuff – what I sometimes call the take-make-waste-mold-the economy as it is will kill the planet,” writes Leonard.

While I don’t agree with her wholeheartedly, I do agree that she is on to something. I can’t tell you how many times in the past few years I’ve purchased something I usually don’t even need and it has a crazy amount of wasteful packaging. I am now even more aware as Leonard takes you through the entire process of Stuff from extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal.

One area I found particularly interesting was when she discussed the new movement of waste-to-energy plants, which are essentially incinerators. Leonard explains that incineration is horrible because it “liberates the toxics contained in products into the air.” As she is explaining why this method is so horrible, she says that waste-to-energy plants should be called waste of energy plants.

She writes “the little bit of energy recovered from burning trash is a very dirty energy, releasing far more greenhouse gases than burning natural gas, oil, or even coal. According to the EPA, waste incinerators produce 1,355 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour, coal produces 1,020, oil 758, and gas 515.”

After reading this section, I will be digging more into the waste-to-energy plants that are in production or construction.

There were a few times that I felt Leonard was preachy, but there were other times I felt energized to take stock of my “Stuff” and make changes to help reduce not only my Stuff, but encourage companies who are producing products to do the same (and remove the numerous unneeded toxic chemicals).

She ends to book by offering four individual actions: redefine progress, do away with war, internationalize externalities, and value time over stuff. She also includes example letters that you can send to manufacturers who produce products with toxic chemicals or too much waste. While I did not embrace all of her recommendations, all in all, this is an interesting book.

The money for the projects came from the CEC’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Transportation program. All winners had to match the grants with private funds.

“Three years ago California crafted innovative legislation that is paying dividends in ground-breaking advances in transportation,” said Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert. “Partnerships between government and the private sector are encouraging new industries that can rebuild California’s manufacturing base. The projects the Commission approved will improve California’s economy and its environment by fostering green, clean advancements in transportation.”

• • Biofuel production – $1,989,101 to Great Valley Energy LLC to test the feasibility creating biofuel from a crop new to the Central Valley – sweet sorghum.
• • Biofuel production -$1,900,000 to the City of San Jose to build and demonstrate a new system that turns trash into natural gas that can be used as a transportation fuel.
• • Biodiesel production – $1,000,000 to East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to make an estimated 300,000 gallons of biodiesel each year at its existing wastewater treatment plant in Oakland.
• • Biodiesel distribution – $69,233 to the Western States Oil Company to convert an existing, 8,000-gallon retail tank used for premium gasoline into one that can dispense wholesale biodiesel.
• • Electric vehicle manufacturing: $1,000,000 to TransPower, a clean-energy company headquartered in Escondido, to study the feasibility of manufacturing large electric-drive trucks in or near San Pedro by 2013.
• • Electric vehicle components: $505,381 to San Francisco-based Mission Motor Co. to help it bring its prototype electric vehicle components to commercial production.
• • Electric vehicle components: $2,962,743 to Leyden Energy Inc., to help it create a production line capable of assembling its lithium-ion cells into 10 battery packs per month for its partner in the project, electric vehicle manufacturer Green Vehicles of Salinas.

When the facility is completed, it will produce 8 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year and will also produce 6 megawatts of renewable electricity generated from various types of biomass including yard waste, municipal solid waste, wood, and vegetative waste.

“This is a key milestone in bringing INEOS Bio’s advanced Bioenergy technology to the US and global markets to help address the world’s waste management challenges,” said Peter Williams, CEO of INEOS Bio. “We offer a sustainable solution for energy independence which breaks the food-for-fuel chain and provides a plentiful supply of renewable bioenergy for new and developed markets.”

The BioEnergy Center, which will be located in Vero Beach, Fla. and the project is getting underway as the region faces a 16 percent unemployment rate. The construction phase of the project will provide 175 jobs in addition to 50 full-time jobs in the Treasure Coast community once the biofacility is complete. Just last month, the project received its major permits and approvals from the State of Florida and the U.S. Government.

“INEOS Bio’s partnership with AMEC brings us one step closer to opening the state-of-the-art BioEnergy Center in Indian River County, where it will bring both renewable energy and new green jobs,” said Mark Niederschulte, COO of INEOS Bio. “We’re confident that AMEC’s experience and expertise in the biofuel sector will help INEOS New Planet BioEnergy accomplish a successful and timely completion of the much anticipated BioEnergy Center.”

This LFGTE facility is only the third private facility in Canada but it is the first in Southwestern Ontario. Waste Management has an initiative to power two million homes by 2020 with waste-based energy.

A little closer to home, Ameresco, Inc., along with San Antonio Water System (SAWS) hosted a grand opening of their new biogas facility located at the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center. According to Ameresco, this project is the first of its kind in the U.S. designed to capture biogas generated during the sewage treatment process and selling it through a commercial gas pipeline.

“SAWS is constantly improving its operations to become more sustainable, and this project is a sound investment for our environment and our community,” said Robert R. Puente, SAWS President/CEO. “By reusing biogas instead of burning it off, we are helping protect the city’s air quality and developing a renewable energy resource.”

During the sewage treatment process, biosolids generate methane gas. Rather than burn off the gas using flares, the company will now treat and transfer at least 900,000 cubic feet of gas to a nearby commercial gas pipeline. From there, Ameresco will sell the methane on the open market. In return, SAWS ratepayers will receive a royalty payment on the sale of the gas estimated yearly to be $200,000.

“At Ameresco, we are driven to help our customers find renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions to achieve their goals,” said Michael T. Bakas, Ameresco’s senior vice president of renewable energy. “Whether those goals are a sustainable environment, reducing costs or reusing a resource, our energy engineers, project managers and plant specialists can make these goals a reality. Ameresco is proud to be a part of this team and groundbreaking project.”

This school press release says Brown University chemist Jason Sello and postdoctoral researcher Aaron Socha have eliminated the corrosive chemicals usuallu used in the reactions… a process that is six times faster than previous methods, using less energy:

“We wanted to develop an environmentally benign and technically simple way to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel,” said Sello, assistant professor of chemistry. “The production of energy at the expense of the environment is untenable and should be avoided at all costs.”

The chemists also were able to perform the conversion in one reaction vessel, since the catalysts can promote both the reaction that converts free fatty acids into biodiesel and the reaction in which triacylgycerols are converted to biodiesel.

The catalysts in the conversion can be reused up to five times. Now the challenge is to do the process on an industrial scale.

As part of the agreement, the two companies anticipate that they will design and construct 15 plants throughout the U.S. over the next five years. According to TMO, for each plant they will receive an initial, one-off design fee plus recurring annual revenue. The site and funding for the first plant has already been secured and construction is expected to begin in 2011. The next five sites have also been identified with the remaining plant locations yet to be determined.

“This contract is a landmark in the development of TMO’s technology on a commercial scale to produce an economically sustainable source of renewable biofuel,” said Hamish Curran, CEO of TMO. “In adopting the TMO Process Fiberight has proven the ability to use waste stream feedstock, net of all recyclables, for the effective conversion to cellulosic ethanol via a novel, low cost and fully integrated bio-process. Replication of similar waste to ethanol bio-refineries, across all regions of the U.S. and globally, can drive significant green job creation and community economic development. We look forward to working with Fiberight’s pioneering team to drive forward our joint plant development program.”

TMO has already achieved project yields in excess of 90 US gallons per ton (dry weight) at pilot scale by processing MSW feedstock from Fiberight at its own demonstration facility in the UK. The metrics support the scalability and economics to achieve attractive conversion of waste biomass into cellulosic ethanol.

“Fiberight has advanced its technology and development processes both with its operations in Blairstown, Iowa and by leveraging the scientific resources available at TMO’s industrial scale process demonstration unit in the United Kingdom. Integrating TMO’s Process with our own will give Fiberight the edge compared with other ethanol producing technologies, allowing us to be more efficient with waste than our competitors. Together, the companies are on track to become one of the largest producers of cellulosic ethanol in the US during 2011, helping to divert millions of tons of waste away from landfill every year,“ said Craig Stuart-Paul, CEO of Fiberight.

According to company President, Earl Powers, the solar plant could be operational by early next year. However, it will take some time yet for the bioethanol plant to break ground since it has yet to receive the appropriate environmental approvals. Regardless, Power notes that the two projects will provide much needed employment opportunities for the community.