![Waste-to-Energy: Cornerstone for Sustainable Cities Daniel N. Robin Founder & Managing Director In3 BioRenewables & Renewable Energy Investor Forum Online: In3inc.com * Email: [email_address] * +1 (831) 761-0700 © 2009 Daniel Robin & Associates / In3 – all rights reserved worldwide Green Trade Network Summit Sept 25, 2009](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/danielrobinformbitawastetoenergy092509final-12634351516094-phpapp01/85/waste-to-energy-presentation-for-green-trade-summit-1-320.jpg)
![[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Trash is a terrible thing to waste!](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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Waste to Energy presentation for Green Trade Summit
- 1. Waste-to-Energy: Cornerstone for Sustainable Cities Daniel N. Robin Founder & Managing Director In3 BioRenewables & Renewable Energy Investor Forum Online: In3inc.com * Email: [email_address] * +1 (831) 761-0700 © 2009 Daniel Robin & Associates / In3 – all rights reserved worldwide Green Trade Network Summit Sept 25, 2009
- 4. Well, maybe
- 5. Linear US Industrial Processes Take Make Waste 80% of products discarded after single use 99% of original materials used or contained in US manufactured goods become waste within 6 weeks of sale Waste is created faster than it can be reconstituted back into useful resources (such as soil nutrients or energy) Raw Materials 6% Product 94% Waste Manufacturing Process
- 6. Why Use Waste for Energy? Breaks our dependency on centralized energy Disrupt the Fossil Folly!
- 11. Agenda … Energy Out
- 12. California Organics Disposed (28,000,000 tons per year; CIWMB)
- 13. Disposal vs. Landfill Diversion (CIWMB)
- 16. WTE Conversion Technologies Technology Responses Thermal 21 Gasification Pyrolysis Autoclaving 2 8 1 Biochemical 10 Anaerobic Digestion AD/Composting Fermentation 6 1 3 Physicochemical 1 Biodiesel 1
- 17. Facility Development Stage Laboratory Permitting / Construction Small Pilot Large Pilot Commercial- Scale Demo Commercialized 3 6 2 4 4 5
- 21. Cellulosic biohols – waste, weeds, or wine – may get us out of this pickle
- 25. The biofuels industry is expanding faster than it is maturing
- 31. Pond Scum Economics: The race is on! Algae Farming in New Zealand
- 35. Questions? What will you do on Monday morning?
- 36. Waste-to-Energy: Cornerstone for Sustainable Cities Daniel N. Robin Founder & Managing Director Online: In3inc.com * Email: [email_address] * +1 (831) 761-0700 © 2009 Daniel Robin & Associates / In3 – all rights reserved worldwide Green Trade Network Summit Sept 25, 2009
- 37. www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, used every five seconds
- 38. 2,000,000 plastic bottles, used every 5 minutes
Editor's Notes
- NOTE: These materials are the original copyrighted work and compiled research of Daniel Robin & Associates and Integrated Investments International (In3). Do not further distribute this presentation without obtaining written permission. Go to http://www.in3inc.com or call 888-222-4733 for more information. There’s no away anymore … someone lives almost everywhere And they don’t want a landfill as a neighbor (with the attendant seagulls and their waste going not to energy) “In industry after industry, it has been demonstrated that sustainable business practices bring significantly improved profits to the bottom line through better utilization of resources and improved public perception, among other factors. CEOs now find knowledge of sustainable business practices to be essential.” - Amy Domini Domini Social Investments
- In principle, gasification can proceed from just about any organic material , including biomass and plastic waste. . Biomass gasification and combustion could play a significant role in a renewable energy economy, because biomass production removes the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as is emitted from gasification and combustion. While other biofuel technologies such as biogas and biodiesel are carbon neutral , gasification in principle may run on a wider variety of input materials and can be used to produce a wider variety of output fuels. There is at present very little industrial scale biomass gasification being done. Examples of demonstration projects include those of the Renewable Energy Network Austria [10] , including a plant using dual fluidized bed gasification [11] that has supplied the town of Güssing with 2 MW of electricity and 4 MW of heat, generated from wood chips, since 2003.
- Now what? Find a way to deal with the overflowing sink…. Too late to turn off the faucet … better start mopping up! And be sure not to stop mopping. There’s lots more coming in. Make room! And while we’re mopping, see if we can make the mop more efficient. That’s basically the same as industrial smokestack scrubbers … “ecoefficiency” MBDC wrote a book called Cradle to Cradle … remaking the way we make things. In it, they naysay ecoefficiency in favor of ecoeffiectivness, which seeks to design industrial systems that emulate the healthy abundance of nature. No waste. Great design intention … now what? To architect and designer Bill McDonough, everything starts to look like a design problem. To me, however, everything looks like a business opportunity. Well, almost everything. Diversion Alternatives: Composting Chipping/Grinding for Mulch Anaerobic Digestion Biomass-to-Energy Waste-to-Energy Recycling
- Nearly every industry, and human activity, consumers vast amounts of resources and generates enormous waste. Manufacturing in the US is no exception. On average, 94% of all materials used in manufacturing goods are waste. Every CD If waste byproducts are inevitable, then what? Can we imagine making and consuming without waste? Where materials are used and reused in continuous loops, converting byproducts into co-products such as soil nutrients (as is the result of composting biodegradables), consumable goods, or energy? It’s easy if we try.
- Disrupt the fossil folly … once and for all … Conserve petroleum resources for those purposes that have no advantageous alternatives.
- Because it’s cheap, plentiful and local, getting rid of it can eliminate disposal costs for the producer Diversion Alternatives: Composting Chipping/Grinding for Mulch Anaerobic Digestion Biomass-to-Energy Waste-to-Energy Recycling
- Diversion Alternatives: Composting Chipping/Grinding for Mulch Anaerobic Digestion Biomass-to-Energy Waste-to-Energy Recycling
- Also, you generalize when you say that all biofuels are bad. Growing soy and palm oil on former virgin rainforest -- THAT'S bad. Growing algae in giant desert facilities that burn up water and energy -- THAT'S bad. But if the exponential-growth rate of algae can be harnessed in a low-cost, low-energy carbon-neutral process like OMEGA, what's not to love?
- In principle, gasification can proceed from just about any organic material , including biomass and plastic waste. . Biomass gasification and combustion could play a significant role in a renewable energy economy, because biomass production removes the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as is emitted from gasification and combustion. While other biofuel technologies such as biogas and biodiesel are carbon neutral , gasification in principle may run on a wider variety of input materials and can be used to produce a wider variety of output fuels. There is at present very little industrial scale biomass gasification being done. Examples of demonstration projects include those of the Renewable Energy Network Austria [10] , including a plant using dual fluidized bed gasification [11] that has supplied the town of Güssing with 2 MW of electricity and 4 MW of heat, generated from wood chips, since 2003.
- Non-thermal meaning biological or mechanical/physiochemical such as catalytic depolymerization or next-gen Fischer-Tropsch
- http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Publications/Organics/2009008.pdf (Exec Summary, p5) 23 OF 83? I guess 50 went straight into the landfill … no, I’m kidding. There were emailed. MIWMB conducted this survey as a follow-up to freshen the data from previous surveys. Many CA jurisdictions are concerned about landfill capacity, are looking for alternatives, and have difficulties with the issue of where to site new landfills. The survey is not specifically about Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Rather, it looks at waste-to-energy conversion technologies (CT), with a special interest in where/how MSW is being used. Evaluation of Emissions from Thermal Conversion Technologies Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Biomass (Exec Summary, p5): “ The diversion of materials from landfill is one of the primary goals in California and elsewhere. Diversion efforts have increased substantially in California since the passage of the Integrated Waste Management Act in 1989, which established a target of 50 percent diversion from landfills by 2000. Despite substantial progress in material diversion, more than 43 million tons of material is still disposed of in landfills in the state. Of the materials landfilled, 79 percent is organic (biomass and plastic carbonaceous material), and could potentially be processed to provide chemical energy or be converted into other useful products. For example, the 31 million tons of organic waste currently landfilled annually contains the equivalent energy of more than 60 million barrels of crude oil, or could provide 2500 MW of electrical power.”
- There are 32 technologies total, greater than the total number of respondents (23), because some respondents were working on multiple technologies simultaneously. Throw the spaghetti against the wall and see if it ignites. Nobody admits to doing simple combustion, as that probably requires a permit, and the CIWMB was asking the questions. Thermochemical reactors – not to be confused with thermonuclear reactors – do use heat and sometimes pressure or regulated amounts of oxygen to control the burn. They emit varying degrees of emissions, but are typically far better than incineration. Descriptions of the various technologies are available in this June 2009 report out of UC Riverside: Evaluation of Emissions from Thermal Conversion Technologies Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Biomass (http://www.bioenergyproducers.org/documents/ucr_emissions_report.pdf)
- Evaluation of Emissions from Thermal Conversion Technologies Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Biomass, p10. This data shows the status of the surveyed companies’ facilities. You’d expect quite a few non-starters, but most (9) are in the commecial demo or can buy this now … One would expect there to be a disproportionate amount in the lab, where many ideas are born and die. Past the lab, it looks like the companies’ technologies are approaching a stage of maturation, with more in the commercialization phase than any other stage.
- This is a chart of commercial activity among the survey participants who responded. This is probably not statistically significant. It’s no surprise that Anaerobic digestion (eg Methane capture) is a leader. Interesting that Gasification is just as high. It’s hard to imagine that commercial Biodiesel plants would be so low compared to the others in a true representative sample. The report did claim that more-established (and larger, thus) companies were less likely to respond to the survey, which stilts this data toward companies in the start-up phase.
- Evaluation of Emissions from Thermal Conversion Technologies Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Biomass p8: Thermochemical conversion is characterized by higher temperatures and conversion rates than most other processes. Thermochemical conversion includes a continuum of processes ranging from thermal decomposition in a primarily non-reactive environment (commonly called pyrolysis) to decomposition in a chemically reactive environment (usually called gasification if the products are primarily fuel gases). Pyrolysis can be considered an incomplete gasification process, in which a mixture of gaseous, liquid and solid products is produced, each of which may have some immediate use to sustain the process. The characteristics of each of these processes can also vary depending on the oxidizing or reducing media, process temperature and process pressure. Environmental implications of conversion technologies are critically important to the overall feasibility of these processes. Current information suggests that thermochemical and biochemical waste conversion processes can be operated in a manner that presents no greater threat to human health or the environment than other common industrial or commercial processes. PYROLISIS: A mixture of gaseous, liquid and solid products is produced, each of which may have some immediate use to sustain the process.
- Evaluation of Emissions from Thermal Conversion Technologies Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Biomass p7: Anaerobic digestion is a bacterial fermentation process that is sometimes employed in wastewater treatment for sludge degradation and stabilization. This is also the principal process occurring in the decomposition of food wastes and other biomass in landfills. Anaerobic digestion operates without free oxygen and results in a fuel gas called biogas, containing mostly CH4 and CO2. Aerobic conversion includes most commercial composting and activated sludge wastewater treatment processes. Aerobic conversion uses air or oxygen to support the metabolism of the aerobic microorganisms degrading the substrate. Aerobic processes generally do not produce useful fuel gases. Aerobic decomposition can occur from as low as near freezing to about 160º F. Fermentation is generally used industrially to convert substrates such as glucose to ethanol for use in beverage, fuel, and chemical applications and to other chemicals (e.g., lactic acid used in producing renewable plastics) and products (e.g., enzymes for detergents). Fermentation feedstocks require pretreatment by chemical, physical, or biological means to open up the structure of biomass and reduce the complex carbohydrates to simple sugars. This set of pretreatments is often referred to as hydrolysis.
- Evaluation of Emissions from Thermal Conversion Technologies Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Biomass p8: Physicochemical conversion involves the synthesis of products using physical and chemical processing at near-ambient temperatures and pressures. It is primarily associated with the transformation of fresh or used vegetable oils, animal fats, greases, tallow, and other suitable feedstocks into useful liquid fuels and chemicals such as biodiesel, frequently by transesterification, a reaction of an organic glyceride with alcohol in the presence of catalyst.
- Recent protests: - Virgin/Heathrow demo - 22/06/09 from http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/06/433055.html June 2009 -- Monday was the 25th anniversary of Virgin Atlantic. They celebrated at Gatwick Terminal 3 with a repeat of their 1:00pm maiden flight from London to Newark in 1984. The protest continued for over 5 hours. At the final count 11 activists were arrested. News story here: http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/news/environment/2009/06/22/anti_airport_protesters_arrested And press release below: 9 arrested as Plane Stupid and Action Against Agrofuels (AAA) crash Virgin Atlantic 25th birthday party 9 activists from Plane Stupid and AAA (Action Against Agrofuels) have been arrested gate crashing Virgin Atlantic’s 25th birthday party at Heathrow airport, to highlight plans to allow the aviation industry to continue to expand if it uses biofuels instead of conventional aviation fuel. Two men, dressed as stewardesses, are still on top of the entrance to the Virgin complex at Terminal 3 where the celebration is being held. Outside more activists, also dressed as stewardesses, unfurled a banner reading, “Aviation Industry: no way out” and “Climate Criminals Inside”. All those outside have now either been arrested or moved on by the police. Virgin has been an outspoken supporter of biofuels as a solution to the steeply rising emissions from aircraft, but scientists are critical of plans to scale up their production to meet the new demand for replacement fuels. Maryla Hart, spokesperson for AAA said, “Virgin Atlantic are claiming to be “Red Hot after 25 years”, but with biofuels it’s going to be a red hot planet we’ll be living on. Today’s celebration is all about having fun but the biggest joke of the party is that the aviation industry are selling biofuels as a green solution to their problems.” Josh Moos of Plane Stupid said, “Virgin are investing massively in trying to make biofuels work, but biofuels are no way out for the aviation industry. It’s farcical to suggest that biofuels are the answer when last year it took 150,000 coconuts to provide just 5% of the fuel for a one-way flight from London to Amsterdam. In reality it will be other vegetable oil blends such as palm oil powering aircraft, but the soaring demand for palm oil is already driving tropical deforestation.” Dee Rughani of AAA added, “The aviation industry is pretending that biofuels reduce greenhouse gas emissions when all the peer reviewed science states that the opposite is true. Whether it’s palm oil or 2nd generation biofuels, both will still compete for land, so any growth in this industry will add further to the 100 million people already going hungry due to biofuels whilst exacerbating tropical forest destruction and climate change.” AAA&PS
- But not everyone’s a fan
- Contact: John Diener Articles: http://bioenergy.checkbiotech.org/news/valley_sugar_beet_farmers_study_production_ethanol Or http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/238442 (this photo): Energy beets: a $93M 'wonder fuel'? Local businessman proposes Mount Joy refinery based on experimental crop. Future generations of Lancaster County Amish will be able to stay in Lancaster County because they will have a new wonder crop to replace increasingly unpopular tobacco. Once again, small towns will depend on local farm products for their economy. A new alternative fuel is at hand that is more powerful than gasoline, far less polluting and could sell for less than ethanol or any other biofuel. Both General Motors and Delta Air Lines are interested. A Rapho Township businessman says all this is at hand and he wants to build a $93 million "revolutionary," first-in-the-world refinery on the edge of Mount Joy Borough to prove it. And the catalyst for Paul Wheaton's dream: the energy beet, a hybrid beet that you can't eat, has been grown only experimentally, but one that he says could be a catalyst for producing the best alternative fuel yet for reducing the country's reliance on foreign oil. "The Maibach Agri-Energy Center will be a showcase for the township, county and state to demonstrate how alternative energy can be used as a myriad of ascetic, energy efficient and economic solutions," Maibach LLC's application to Rapho Township says. "We're ready to break ground in September," Wheaton said this morning. "We want to be a good neighbor and good corporate citizens." Wheaton's application to the township says the groundbreaking energy beet technology could even be used to "bail out already obsolete ethanol technologies" without taxpayer subsidies, perhaps a swipe at the cross-county effort to build a corn ethanol biofuel refinery in Conoy Township. "We're not a corn-based ethanol plant. We're so different," Wheaton said this morning. It would be the world's first low-carbon transportation fuel refinery and could be built within 9 months, Wheaton said. Not only would the plant emit zero emissions and have no smell, it would take needed water from the beets. A methane byproduct would be burned on-site and turned into electricity to completely power the refinery. Plus, he said, the beets take up nutrients that normally wash into groundwater and end up polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Those nutrients in the beets will later be captured in the refining process and sold as fertilizer. Thursday night, the first public hearing on Maibach's conditional-use application was held in Rapho Township. About three dozen residents attended but few spoke. Perhaps, suggested Supervisor Lowell Fry this morning, that's because "there was just plain curiosity. We all wanted to know what it was." The hearings will continue June 29, 30 and July 1, if needed. Although the beets refinery would be a first, the project's technology has been tested by a number of governmental and private research groups, including The Centre of Excellence in Agricultural and Biotechnological Sciences in Canada, the University of Oregon and the Penn State University Institute. The application says the U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered to support the formation of a local growers' co-operative for the beets. Energy beets could be a savior for local farmers because they could be planted between other crops, not instead of them, the application says. The beet's short growing season would enable it to be grown and harvested three times a year. Some 30,000 acres of beet fields are envisioned when the plant is at full production. To date, the beets have not been grown in the U.S., the application says. Total estimated infusion into the local farm economy if the facility is built and at full operation: $38 million annually. And, since it is not a food commodity, such as corn, its price will not affect the supply of food, the application says. Both Amish and English farmers "desperately" need a crop to replace the diminishing demand for tobacco, the application says. Maibach representatives have begun meeting with local bishops about the venture. But the model of a beets-derived biofuel has global implications for empowering agriculture-based communities, according to the papers touting the venture. "Manufacturing was successful in the 1900's because factories were built to be the hub of business, jobs and prosperity. In the 21st century, the Maibach technology will resurrect the manufacturing business. "Once again towns will grow and prosper around the agri-energy hub. This community-based model is a revolutionary way to stimulate economic development in these dire times. We believe that the Maibach model will be enthusiastically adopted nationally and globally." The refinery, when phased in over three years, would produce up to 40 million gallons of transportation fuel a year and employ 35 to 40 people. The fuel would target local "flex fuel" vehicles that are capable of being powered by both conventional gasoline and a fuel made up mostly of biofuels. Congress is currently debating how soon to require that in all vehicles. Staff writer Ad Crable can be reached at [email_address] or 481-6029.
- LA Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/17/business/fi-onions-fuel17 The energy system will cut $700,000 annually off the electric bill at the 14-acre plant in Oxnard saving $400,000 a year on disposal costs. Gills has secured more than $3 million in government and power company incentives to do it. Gill figures the $9.5-million system will pay for itself in less than six years while eliminating up to 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions a year. "It's a great sustainability story, but it was first a business decision to solve a waste problem," said Gill, 59, who co-owns the company with his brother David. "But in doing so, we solved a lot of environmental problems too.“ Good video on the project (though biased) is here: http://www.gillsonions.com/video/ Images from: http://www.treehugger.com/20090717-gills-onions-fuel-cells.jpg http://www.treehugger.com/20090717-gills-onions.jpg http://www.environmentalleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/gill-large.jpg http://gas2.org/files/2009/07/onions-760015.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Onion_white_background.jpg
- LA Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/17/business/fi-onions-fuel17 The energy system will cut $700,000 annually off the electric bill at the 14-acre plant in Oxnard saving $400,000 a year on disposal costs. Gills has secured more than $3 million in government and power company incentives to do it. Gill figures the $9.5-million system will pay for itself in less than six years while eliminating up to 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions a year. "It's a great sustainability story, but it was first a business decision to solve a waste problem," said Gill, 59, who co-owns the company with his brother David. "But in doing so, we solved a lot of environmental problems too.“ Good video on the project (though biased) is here: http://www.gillsonions.com/video/ Images from: http://www.treehugger.com/20090717-gills-onions-fuel-cells.jpg http://www.treehugger.com/20090717-gills-onions.jpg http://www.environmentalleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/gill-large.jpg http://gas2.org/files/2009/07/onions-760015.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Onion_white_background.jpg
- LA Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/17/business/fi-onions-fuel17 The energy system will cut $700,000 annually off the electric bill at the 14-acre plant in Oxnard saving $400,000 a year on disposal costs. Gills has secured more than $3 million in government and power company incentives to do it. Gill figures the $9.5-million system will pay for itself in less than six years while eliminating up to 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions a year. "It's a great sustainability story, but it was first a business decision to solve a waste problem," said Gill, 59, who co-owns the company with his brother David. "But in doing so, we solved a lot of environmental problems too.“ Good video on the project (though biased) is here: http://www.gillsonions.com/video/ Images from: http://www.treehugger.com/20090717-gills-onions-fuel-cells.jpg http://www.treehugger.com/20090717-gills-onions.jpg http://www.environmentalleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/gill-large.jpg http://gas2.org/files/2009/07/onions-760015.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Onion_white_background.jpg
- Daniel Robin, managing director of Integrated Investments Int’l … since 1996; we act as screeners and advisors for “cleantech” ventures to gain access to venture capital, and sometimes invest our own funds or sweat equity. Why integrated ? We have a vision that together, we can demo how our global economy, or the “global casino” as Fritjov Capra calls it, can respect life and living systems. Indeed, it must. The only questions are how much dis respect can nature withstand, and when (not if) will there be an accelerated shift toward sustainability. In other words, I’m proposing that we work together to value p eople and the p lanet (our life-support systems) as much as p rofit. Profit is necessary, even lots of profit; but without the other two, ultimately, our economy is not sustainable. More and more, it is becoming clear to corporate and investment decision makers that this boils down to managing risk factors that affect us all. How? Accelerate business solutions, what we call “sustainable technology” to pressing economic, social and environmental problems. In practice, this means using capital in ways the competitive market forces will tell the success stories … there are already examples of this; more are needed, the number must be dramatically increased, if only to keep up with Europe. Investments? As “venture catalysts,” we work with an expanding network of private and institutional investors, service providers and innovative and experienced entrepreneurs. Financial capital is our main specialty, and seen as the lynchpin in sustainable venture development. But that, too, is changing. International? We’re based in California but work with affiliates & projects in Seattle, Germany, and Australia. See our website, www.in3inc.com/about.html , for further details.
- NOTE: These materials are the original copyrighted work and compiled research of Daniel Robin & Associates and Integrated Investments International (In3). Do not further distribute this presentation without obtaining written permission. Go to http://www.in3inc.com or call 888-222-4733 for more information. There’s no away anymore … someone lives almost everywhere And they don’t want a landfill as a neighbor (with the attendant seagulls and their waste going not to energy) “In industry after industry, it has been demonstrated that sustainable business practices bring significantly improved profits to the bottom line through better utilization of resources and improved public perception, among other factors. CEOs now find knowledge of sustainable business practices to be essential.” - Amy Domini Domini Social Investments