http://www.cnbc.com/id/101514381
Trouble with trash? Try turning it into fuel
Published: Friday, 21 Mar 2014 | 11:38 AM ET
By: Anmar Frangoul | Special to CNBC.com
t's a problem that cities all over the world face: what to do with the
vast amounts of trash generated every day?
According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2012 the
recycling rate for municipal solid waste (MSW) in the United States was
a little over a third, while the vast majority of the rest is sent to
landfill sites.
In some cases, MSW is burned to produce electricity -- but this
generates its own pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
The trouble with trash isn't going away -- in fact it's getting
bigger. The World Bank is predicting that by 2025 the world's urban
population will produce 2.2 billion tonnes of MSW per year, while
according to the EPA in 2011 landfill sites, "were the third largest
human-made source of methane in the United States."
It is against this backdrop that Montreal, Canada, based Enerkem has
come up with a solution to what is becoming a bulging, noxious, problem.
The clean tech company has developed technology that "bio-refines"
non-recyclable waste – think plastic, plants and wood – into biofuels
and renewable chemicals. Biofuels are seen as renewable and viable
alternatives to diesel and petrol, and can be derived from organic
materials, usually plants and crops such as sugarcane and rapeseed.
This does come at a cost, however: a 2013 report by LRS Consultancy,
which specializes in environmental consultancy, put the cost of
biodiesel manufacture at roughly 75p ($1.25) per liter, compared with
52p (86¢) per liter for petrodiesel.
"[Our] clean technology replaces the use of petroleum for the production
of liquid transportation fuels and chemicals by using urban waste
materials instead," Vincent Chornet, President and CEO of Enerkem, told
CNBC.com in an email.
"This bio-refinery process converts waste into a chemical-grade
synthetic gas which is then turned into biofuels and biochemicals using
catalysts. In less than five minutes, the waste becomes fuels and
chemicals."
In the city of Edmonton, Canada, Enerkem Alberta Biofuels, an affiliate
of Enerkem, is building the world's first large-scale 'municipal
waste-to-biofuels facility', with a scheduled spring start date.
It is estimated that once up and running, the plant will turn 100,000
tonnes of MSW otherwise destined for landfill into 38 million liters of
biofuel every year, while the city's waste diversion rate will increase
from 60 percent to 90 percent.
Speaking at the start of the facility's construction in 2010, Ed
Stelmach, the then Premier of Alberta, said, "This is truly an
investment…in our environment, our economy, and most importantly our
future."
Could then, the technology being implemented in Canada be replicated
elsewhere? "We believe that the game-changing facility that we've built
in partnership with the city of Edmonton can really become a model for
many communities around the world that are looking for a sustainable way
to manage waste," Marie-Hélène Labrie, Enerkem's vice president of
government relations, told CNBC.com in a phone interview.
"We've developed a standard plant design that can be replicated in many
different municipalities and areas around the world, in urban and rural
areas," she added.
It's not just Enerkem that's looking to scale up production of biofuels.
In New York state, United Biofuels has requested permission from
authorities to develop New York's first commercial scale biodiesel
plant, while in 2013, Argentina exported over one million tons of
biodiesel, according to Reuters.
=======================================================================
[Let's hope Enerkem does better than the Plasco fiasco in Ottawa, a
'waste-to-energy' money pit.]
http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/11/29/susan-sherring-its-time-for-ottawa-envionmental-services-gm-dixon-weir-to-come-clean-on-plasco-numbers
Susan Sherring: It's time for Ottawa envionmental services GM Dixon Weir
to come clean on Plasco numbers
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Thursday, November 29, 2012 08:25 PM EST | Updated:
Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:48 PM EST
Did environmental services general manager Dixon Weir purposely mislead
city councillors over the progress with Plasco?
Or more likely, does he care so little about giving the politicians he’s
paid to serve the truth that he throws out numbers without
double-checking them — or being confident in their validity?
The latter would appear to be the case, though his carelessness with
numbers will certainly cause some councillors to question whether he’s
so intent on having them accept Plasco, he’ll tell them just about anything.
At a recent environmental committee meeting, Weir told councillors
Plasco had processed 7,000 tonnes of waste at its pilot facility.
Frankly, that number is low enough.
The pilot facility is supposed to have the capacity to process 85 tonnes
a day, according to Plasco officials.
The Sun tried to reach Weir on Wednesday to clarify the number. No word.
The story was held, giving him another 24 hours to come up with an answer.
Weir apparently is deathly afraid of the media, perhaps with good
reason, since he can’t seem to get his facts straight.
On Thursday, he agreed to speak, just needed a few minutes.
And then instead, he sent out this e-mail to the very same members of
the environment committee he’d misled.
“During the November 20th Environment Committee meeting last week, I was
asked how many tonnes of waste have been processed by Plasco in 2012. My
response to committee members was that to my knowledge, approximately
7,000 tonnes were processed.
“I would like to clarify my initial response. Upon further review of the
data, 6,780 tonnes were delivered to Plasco in 2012, which I rounded up
to 7,000 at the committee meeting. Plasco returned 3,200 tonnes to Trail
Landfill for disposal. As a result, Plasco processed 3,600 tonnes in
2012, as of mid-September,” his mea culpa read.
According to Plasco’s own numbers, the plant has only processed 3,892
tonnes by mid-November.
Everyone makes mistakes, but Weir just seems a little too eager to gloss
over facts to convince councillors Plasco is trouble-free. It’s clearly not.
At a recent public meeting, Plasco was upfront about its progress and
defended the 3,800 tonnes it processed this year.
One senior Plasco bureaucrat said the initial time frame, which
suggested — if it is approved by the city — a commercial plant could be
up and running by 2014, may have been “unrealistic.”
You think?
It’s incredibly easy to believe that Weir was just as happy having
councillors think it was 7,000 tonnes, given how strongly he’s been
publicly defending the operation.
And in fact, if it hadn’t been for the Sun’s queries, committee members
would still be voting on the issue based on serious misinformation.
At the environment committee meeting, Weir was totally defensive and
evasive about both Plasco and its progress over the years.
With that in mind, it’s no small wonder some astute councillors around
the table are worried about the direction the city is heading by
preparing to sign a long-term contract with Plasco without any solid
evidence the facility can do what it’s promising.
Pressed to tell councillors when the contract might be signed, Weir was
vague: “We continue to provide waste to Plasco, and we’re in
negotiations. I think that’s more speculative than I care to get into.”
One of those frustrated over the plethora of numbers is Somerset Coun.
Diane Holmes, who pushed Weir for answers at the recent meeting.
She wasn’t happy with what she heard — likely less so now that she’s
received Weir’s mea culpa.
“The numbers just aren’t very encouraging,” Holmes said.
Weir needs to remember staff and politicians are supposed to be on the
same side and he gets paid very good money to do his job. It’s not too
much to ask for him to double-check his numbers before he speaks.
=========================================================================
http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/02/27/doubts-mount-about-plasco-just-like-the-trash-sherring
Doubts mount about Plasco, just like the trash
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 06:51 PM EST | Updated:
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 08:07 PM EST
Is Plasco the miracle needed to solve Ottawa’s mounting mountain of
garbage or nothing but a dream destined to join another mountain of
failed dreams at the city of Ottawa?
Years after the project was first brought to the city, the question
still remains.
Plasco, the plasma gasification process, first came to Ottawa back
several years back as a no risk, everything to gain venture.
The city was quick to jump on board. All it had to do was hand over some
land not being used anyway for a Plasco pilot project, and in return,
they received a guarantee of a lower garbage tipping fee and a share of
the profits from other contracts Plasco secured if the process worked
Hard to say no to.
And they didn’t.
But that was several years ago.
Now, concerns are mounting as quick as the garbage around us.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, politicians agreed to extend a drop dead
deadline of the end of March to Aug. 31.
The end of March deadline was originally set for CEO Rod Bryden to have
all funding in place.
He doesn’t.
River Coun. Maria McRae, the chair of the city’s environment committee,
moved the motion for the extension.
“I don’t want to see Plasco die because of an artificial deadline they
gave us,” McRae said.
Not sure what constitutes an artificial deadline.
Not sure McRae does either.
But to that, Bryden says the deadline wasn’t picked by him but by the city.
Interesting. You have to wonder where the truth lies with this one.
It’s but one small example of why people get so nervous when the city is
involved in a major project.
Bryden said he always knew the March deadline would be a challenge.
Councillors have repeatedly been told throughout this lengthy process
that there is no financial risk to the city.
So it was interesting to hear Innes Coun. Rainer Bloess question what
the possible failure of Plasco might do to their reputation.
Good question.
What the city’s reputation is exactly, well, that is a bit unclear.
This of courses is the city that signed a mega-million dollar deal for
light rail only to cancel it.
Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley pointed out that at this stage of the
waste diversion game, the city is essentially putting all of its eggs in
one basket. If Plasco fails, what then? There’s no answer to that. City
manager Kent Kirkpatrick said the city still believes in the
gasification technology and doesn’t believe there’s anything as good or
as economical.
And he suggested to council that if in the worst-case scenario Plasco
fails, the pilot project has been a key factor in economic development,
with millions being spent in the region and jobs created.
Councillors made it clear, just before they unanimously approved the
extension that they’d like some sort of guarantee Bryden wouldn’t be
coming back to council for another extension in the summer.
Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli asked for a “verbal” guarantee.
Naive and ridiculous.
“I don’t have a guarantee,” Kirkpatrick said. “Mr. Bryden has assured me
that timeline provides all the latitude they need to meet the
requirement in contract,” Kirkpatrick said, adding he did tell Bryden he
was pretty sure council wouldn’t want to see this back again.
Bryden said the August deadline came out of a discussion with staff, and
he’s not sure who suggested it.
“I believe it’s reasonable. But I can’t predict in advance” he said.
Bryden said he’s used to skepticism by politicians.
He met with the same resistance when bringing the Ottawa Senators and
Scotiabank Place to town.
“Well, people enjoy it now, but were worried right up until it was built,
“It’s not easy, everyone would do it, I can’t guarantee a future,” the
entrepreneur said.
But he added, he has absolute faith in Plasco’s successful future.
“And they’ll be more proud that they are of the Senators,” he added.
=======================================================================
http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/01/30/plasco-energy-group-moves-in-new-direction-without-ceo-rod-bryden
Plasco Energy Group moves in new direction without CEO Rod Bryden
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Thursday, January 30, 2014 08:20 PM EST | Updated:
Thursday, January 30, 2014 08:25 PM EST
With a little more than a gentle push out the door, Rod Bryden - up
until now the face of Plasco - is leaving the company altogether.
On Friday, Bryden officially has his last day on Plasco's board of
directors Friday.
It's the end of a journey that began back in 2005 - when Bryden first
pitched Plasco to the city on a new and innovative way to get rid of
garbage.
The journey has been longer than either the city or Bryden hoped.
Contacted by the Sun on Thursday, Bryden confirmed the news of his exit
- which was not of his own making.
"That's right, we've been on a process since last fall.
"The new CEO (Ray Floyd), he's just what we need for rolling this
project out around the world. I've worked along with him to try to be
sure he got fully immersed in the company before I stepped out of
activity all together. The company should be in a really strong position
of significant growth mode, and Floyd has fewer years on him than I do"
Bryden told the Sun.
"I love creating things. It will be good for (Plasco) to move to more of
an executive growth mode, focused on the management of operations and
growth, rather than simply the base," he said.
It was back in November that the Plasco Energy Group, the company
partnering with the city to process municipal waste in a
"plasmafication" plant, announced Floyd was replacing Bryden as
president and CEO. Bryden, chairman and CEO since 2005, was then made
the executive chairman on the company's board of directors.
Plasco's technology superheats garbage, producing synthetic gas to power
electricity generators. The leftover "slag" can be used in construction
aggregate. The company runs a demonstration facility on Trail Rd. and
has signed a conditional agreement with the city to process municipal
trash at a new plant.
Council has given Plasco until the end of 2014 to come up with the
financing to build the $200-million commercial plant.
The city only would pay for the trash it sends to the facility.
Certainly, Bryden was sounding a bit melancholy as he talked about his
exit, but insisted it was right thing for Plasco, and while not his
decision, he said he "didn't disagree with it."
It might be harder if he wasn't already working on something new, he
admitted.
While he has a new project he declined to talk about it.
"I think there was an agreement with the board and the key investors
this was a good time for it to happen, I don't disagree," he said.
The only real regret he has is that it it's taken so long to become a
reality.
"I wish we'd been able to do it two years faster," he acknowledged.
Despite the delays, on Thursday, there was nothing but praise for Bryden.
"Rod has and continues to be one of the city's entrepreneurs. He is
hugely respected for his risk-taking and always boosted the Ottawa
region. Whether it was artificial hearts or the Senators or an
innovative way to dispose of waste, he has always thought of ways to add
to the community. I want to thank him for his work with Plasco and wish
him the best for the future," Mayor Jim Watson said.
River Coun. Maria McRae, the chair of the city's environment committee
echoed the mayor's comments.
"He's put Plasco on the map locally and internationally and has been a
real champion bringing it this far," she said.
Bryden, asked when the public can expect to see Plasco up and running,
just laughed.
"Well, that's one of the great things about this. I no longer have to
try to predict that!" he said.
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