News

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Your assistance is needed. In partnership with multiple entities California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) will apply for a U.S. Forest Service Wood Innovations grant to test the applicability of tree mortality biochar as a gas phase wastewater filtration medium.  This new area of research focuses on the sectors ability to substitute an imported filtration substance to one locally produced from dead trees and other forest waste. CASA is requesting volunteers, wastewater facilities for comparison, and/or letters of support for the project by January 20th. For further details, click here or contact gkester@casaweb.org.

EVENTS

2016 REW Conference: Circular Circumstances

TheRenewable Energy from Waste (REW) Conference was held in November in LongBeach, CA. Speakers during a sessiontitled Waste-to-Energy in the Circular Economy shared several examples of theadded value of waste.  A critical step in sustainable materialsmanagement of plastics is post-use collection and recycling everything that canbe recycled, or break it back down to a monomer, or if that cant be done, thengetting the energy back out of it. Additional discussions in the panel session included research on gasification,and that anaerobic digestion has shown to be financially viable in many states.  To read more, click here.

New Report Highlights Investment Benefits of Advanced Energy From Waste

Accordingto the environmental consulting firm Eunomia, there are a total of 12facilities using Advanced Conversion Technology (ACT) in the UK that are eitheroperating or under construction. The operating facilities produce a combinedestimated 200 MW of electrical power, with future planned facilities possiblyincreasing that output to 600 MW. Should the new facilities run successfully,it may attract new investors to the promising market of ACT facilities.However, factors such as securing residual waste for operations long enough torepay investors, and the economic effects of Brexit bring in a level ofuncertainty. Eunomia concludes that despite this, early support of ACTs maylead to a refocus of higher value applications.  To read more, click here.

Containerization of the G3-UHt Gasification System

Developedby the company PowerHouse, the G3-UHt Gasification System (PHE-G3) has beenarranged to be containerized. This will allow the system to be shipped tofacilities in the UK for on-site demonstrations in a facility that has yet tobe chosen. The sites that are under consideration are active waste andrecycling operations facilities.  To read more, click here.

Waste In, Energy Out: The Costs and Benefits of Anaerobic Digesters

Anaerobic digesters are a mature, proven technology. They take sludge, manure, and other organic waste materials and produce methane (natural gas) fuel. Nobody questions their technological capabilities. However, the question remains as to their economic benefits. In terms of dollars and cents, how much economic sense do anaerobic digesters make?  According to a study on digesters of agricultural waste, the payback period (capital costs divided by annual net benefits) can be between five and six years.  There are also a number of digesters beginning to process organic material from the municipal solid waste stream with enhanced design of the digesters.  There are also a number of consulting experts that specialize in the assistance of planning, permitting, and engineering of the digesters. Some example projects mentioned are the Organic Waste Recycling Center for the Sacramento South Area Transfer Station that fuel their Atlas Disposal trucks with the very material that those trucks bring in; and Gills Onions, which takes 100 tons of onions and turns it into useful biogas and animal feed. Another example is the Heartland Biogas facility that takes local cow manure and organic food waste that will become 50 MW of renewable natural gas to be injected into the Colorado Interstate Gas Company pipeline.  To read more, click here.