BioConversion Solutions’ New Biomass to Biogas System Provides Industry-Leading Profits

The Advanced Fluidized Co-Digestion and Co-Generation (AFC²) anaerobic process from BioConversion Solutions (BCS) provides up to 90 percent conversion of organic feedstock solids with no residual sludge. The AFC² profitable and scalable biomass conversion process is designed for the agribusiness, food processing, commercial co-digestion, and waste management industries.

AFC² from BCS produces renewable energy and other value-added products including saleable fertilizer and clean water for reuse in agricultural or industrial applications. AFC² is an evolution of
 BCS’s original AFC technology, which has a 20-year track record of cost-effectively converting industrial waste. AFC² technology can be used in new plants, and easily retrofitted to existing digesters. Currently, the market value of energy generated from biomass in the US alone was $45 billion.

BCS is currently engaged to provide the first biogas conversion system in Australia’s meat processing industry. The $43 million system will generate electricity, steam, and clean water at Bindaree Beef’s new Bio-digester and Rendering Plant in Inverell, NSW. It will also minimize odor and water issues at the plant and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to Ministry of the Environment standards. Bindaree Beef received a $23 million Australian Federal Government grant for the full-scale beef abattoir biogas project.

BCS is also contracted to install an alternative energy system at a municipal plant in Daejeon, South Korea; the 4^th largest City in South Korea. The system will eliminate over 300 million pounds of sludge per year. It will be the largest system of its kind ever built in that country.

MV Technologies Receives $1.2 Million Order for its H2SPlus Technology for Use in a Large Scale Landfill Gas Project

Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources, Inc. (SEER) announced recently that its subsidiary MV Technologies (MV) received a $1.2 million order to supply a high-capacity H2SPlus hydrogen sulfide removal system to a large landfill operation in the Western U.S.

The landfill will install MV’s proprietary H2SPlus system as part of a major initiative to increase the supply of renewable landfill gas (LFG) available for electric power generation, while simultaneously improving the landfill’s odor control.  The project is being managed by a major U.S.-based engineering firm that is working with MV to optimize the system design to meet the landfill’s unique operating conditions.  Upon its completion expected later this year, the project will handle up to 4,700 cubic feet per minute of landfill gas and address hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations of up to 2,000 parts per million.  This will be one of the larger LFG projects in the western U.S.

“The LFG segment of the renewable fuels market is a fast-growing component of our business and this order is an important milestone in establishing MV Technologies at the forefront of this growing opportunity,” said John Jenkins, President of MV.  “Our custom engineered systems have demonstrated unparalleled performance in removing H2S at lower capital and operating costs.  This gives us a key competitive advantage in our industry and provides significant economic benefit for our customers who face increasingly stringent emission regulations.”

“Securing this large-scale project in the LFG sector so early in the first quarter reflects SEER’s commitment over the last year to capture market share in this fast-growing renewable fuels segment and creates tremendous opportunity to achieve or exceed our 2014 goals,” said John Combs, CEO of SEER.  “Establishing solid, long-term relationships with national and highly-regarded engineering firms also represents a key element of SEER’s aggressive growth strategy.”

ClearCove Systems Receives NYSERDA Funding For Biogas Projects

ClearCove Systems Inc. of Rochester, NY announced recently that it had been awarded funding by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to demonstrate a new wastewater treatment system that is expected to save energy while reducing treatment costs.

The technology also is expected to bring an additional benefit: the creation of a carbon-rich byproduct that can be used as a superior fuel for generating biogas through anaerobic digestion.

The demonstration will take place at two sites in upstate New York. NYSERDA has provided $300,000 for these two projects. ClearCove is contributing an additional $300,000.

“This generous support from NYSERDA further validates our vision,” said ClearCove CEO Greg Westbrook. “We believe our technology supports NYSERDA’s goal of allowing wastewater treatment plants to be more sustainable through a combination of energy savings and on-site energy production.”

ClearCove will install its patented system at the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility in the Finger Lakes and at the Nott Road Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Capital Region Town of Guilderland.

ClearCove has invented a screening technology that enhances the settling techniques that water treatment plants typically use to process sewage. ClearCove's patented process reduces energy use by removing more organic matter from the waste stream before it undergoes aeration or secondary treatment.

At the same time, the study seeks to show an additional benefit: that ClearCove's
system creates an organic byproduct that can be used for anaerobic digestion -- the
process of breaking down organic materials to create a biogas that is burned to
generate electricity.

ClearCove studies have demonstrated that the organic matter captured by its primary
treatment system and used in anaerobic digestion generates three times more biogas
than organic matter that is typically taken from secondary treatment systems does. This
will allow facilities to even further offset their energy use with on-site renewable energy
generation.

The Ithaca plant already has on-site digesters. The Nott Road plant is currently looking
into bringing its byproduct to a nearby digester, which would reduce the facility's
current cost of transporting and disposing the waste.

Jason Turgeon of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1, Lauren Fillmore
of the Water Environment Research Foundation, and Rich Lyons, Executive Director of
the Albany County Sewer Authority, have agreed to serve as advisory committee
members for the project.

EPA reports have estimated that a typical municipal wastewater treatment plant
spends 40 percent of its total operating costs on removing organic matter from
wastewater -- a significant amount, since wastewater treatment can represent one-third
or more of a municipality’s entire utility bill. The ClearCove process removes most of the
organic waste using a low-energy, gravity-driven process.

“We hope to bring our wastewater plant in Ithaca to the point where we are not only
meeting our energy needs with onsite biogas production, but are also generating
surplus energy for outside use,” said Ithaca Chief Operator Dan Ramer. “We anticipate
that ClearCove’s primary treatment process will be instrumental in lowering our energy
consumption and in increasing the amount of bio-methane we are generating in our
anaerobic digesters.”

"I feel ClearCove's Flatline technology could have a dramatic impact on the entire
operational efficiency of the plant, from energy usage to substantial savings in sludge
processing and disposal." said Keith Edwards, Chief Operator of the Nott Road
Wastewater Treatment plant.

ClearCove Systems Inc. is focused on wastewater treatment solutions that produce
cleaner water, reduce energy costs, and enable more efficient production of biogas from
organic waste. Its patented primary treatment process offers greater environmental
protection from storm events and helps wastewater treatment plants to reach energy
self-sufficiency through lower utility costs and greater bio-fuel production potential.

Constellation to Develop 27 MW Biogas Co-Generation Power Plant for City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation

Constellation today announced that it has signed an agreement with the City of Los Angeles to design, build and operate a 27-megawatt (MW) renewable energy power plant at L.A. Sanitation’s Hyperion Treatment Plant.

Hyperion is among the 10 largest wastewater treatment facilities in the world, according to a 2012 Engineering News Record report. The sewage treatment process at Hyperion generates a class 1 renewable fuel known as digester gas. The new power plant, which will cost approximately $130 million to construct, will use the digester gas produced at Hyperion as its primary fuel source. The power plant will produce steam and electricity that will be used to operate Hyperion’s treatment operations.

“This state-of-the-art facility will reduce emissions at the Hyperion plant and secure for our city a new energy source that is reliable, efficient and sustainable,” said Traci Minamide, L.A. Sanitation’s chief operating officer.

“Constellation is uniquely qualified to develop and operate this integrated, self-sustaining solution for the City of Los Angeles and L.A. Sanitation,” said Gary Fromer, senior vice president, energy management programs, Constellation. “Our objective is to deliver and operate for the city a power plant that will become a nationwide model for reliable, cost-efficient, sustainable power solutions at wastewater treatment facilities.”

L.A. Sanitation selected Constellation as the project developer after a lengthy competitive bidding process. Constellation and its subcontractors will develop, construct and operate the co-generation facility for 10 years, with an option to extend the agreement for five additional years. Commercial operation of the Hyperion co-generation facility is expected by the end of 2016.

EPA Recognizes Partners for Landfill Gas Energy Achievements (2013)

Each year, EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) recognizes select Partners for excellence in innovation and creativity, success in promoting landfill gas (LFG) energy, and achieving both environmental and economic benefits. These award-winning LFG energy projects and companies contribute to job creation and provide energy savings and green power generation. On January 22, 2014, Partners accepted the following awards at LMOP’s 17th Annual Conference and Project Expo in Baltimore, Maryland.
 
2013 Projects of the Year: LMOP was pleased to recognize two projects that create renewable energy from a local source while also protecting the climate and strengthening the economy. Together, these projects will avoid the emissions of 276,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered annually by more than 200,000 acres of U.S. forests or the carbon dioxide emissions from more than 600,000 barrels of oil consumed.

• Blue Ridge Renewable Energy Plant, Pennsylvania — A true private/public partnership, LFG supplier IESI Blue Ridge Landfill, power purchaser Borough of Chambersburg, and project developer PPL Renewable Energy (PPLRE) worked closely together to bring this 6.4-megawatt LFG electricity project online after only seven months of construction. In addition to designing, constructing, owning, and operating the LFG electricity plant at the landfill, PPLRE designed, permitted, and built the dedicated, 4-mile Express Generator Feeder (EGF) from the plant to the Borough’s Cree substation. The Borough obtained easements for the EGF, assumed ownership of the line upon project completion, and will maintain it. The EGF traversed several obstacles, including a shopping mall, a high-voltage power line, an interstate, wetlands, a stream, a housing subdivision, and a farmer’s fields, and was also structured to minimize impacts on birds. Successful completion of this project was particularly satisfying and is an example of determination in overcoming the odds, as interconnection-related issues had thwarted other developers for years. Coming full circle, waste that Borough residents and businesses deposited in the landfill now supplies about 15 percent of its 11,000 customers’ electric needs, plus the Borough was able to decrease the price of electricity those customers pay. In addition, the project generates 50,000 renewable energy credits (RECs) annually toward meeting the state RPS goal.


• Seminole Road Landfill Renewable Fuels Facility, Georgia — With an LFG electricity project thriving for several years, DeKalb County wanted to find a creative outlet for its excess LFG. Given air permitting limitations for engines and a desire to save money and reduce emissions from county vehicles, self-developing a renewable natural gas (RNG) and renewable compressed natural gas (RCNG) project was the way to go. In 2010, the county received about $7 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to build its Renewable Fuels Facility (RFF) and to purchase about 40 new CNG-fueled waste collection trucks. In the RFF, contaminants such as hydrogen sulfide, siloxanes, VOCs, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen are removed from approximately 550 standard cubic feet per minute of LFG to create RNG. Some of the RNG is delivered into the nearby Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) pipeline, while the rest is dried and compressed to become RCNG, which is then dispensed to county vehicles and the public at the onsite fueling station. The county, surrounding community, and environment benefit from the RCNG station, as it offers a fuel price lower than diesel or gasoline and will offset the use of 15 million gallons of these fossil fuels each year. Large windows in the RFF building allow convenient and safe viewing of the operations for a range of visitors from local students to international technical delegates.

2013 Community Partner of the Year: Gaston County Solid Waste and Recycling Division, North Carolina — Forward-thinking Gaston County identified three primary sustainability goals in 2008 related to its waste management practices: reduce landfill emissions, produce renewable energy, and provide infrastructure for a new Eco-Industrial Park. With a voluntary gas collection system installed, a self-developed LFG electricity project (2.8 megawatts) in operation, and the Park’s grading and utility hook-ups in place, the county is well on its way to realizing all of its main objectives. The Renewable Energy Center was designed to accommodate additional LFG engines in the future, and also has a solar panel array on its roof for bonus renewable electricity to offset the building’s parasitic load. Several local, state, and federal officials have toured the Center to learn about LFG energy, and county staff visit schools to educate students about a range of waste-related topics including a hands-on landfill model. The Park was designed to interconnect with the Center, and the county plans to make excess LFG as well as waste heat from the LFG electricity project available to future Park tenants. The Park is intended as a location for “green” businesses to grow and thrive, and potential tenants include a biodiesel facility and a food-waste anaerobic digester.