50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy for 2009-10: #25, Enerkem
Based in: Canada
2009-10 ranking: #25
Business: The Company uses a proprietary thermo-chemical technology (green gasification and catalytic conversion) to convert heterogeneous materials into ethanol. R&D is underway to produce Synthetic gasoline (syngas), Synthetic diesel, and Dimethyl Ether (DME). The Company is majority owned by clean-technology investment pioneers and institutional funds, including Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and BDR
Type of technology: Thermo-chemical technology (green gasification and catalytic conversion)
Fuel produced: Ethanol. R&D underway to produce Synthetic gasoline (syngas), Synthetic diesel, and Dimethyl Ether (DME). Can also produce green chemicals, such as methanol, acetic acid, and acetates
Major investors. Majority owned by clean-technology investment pioneers and institutional funds, including Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and BDR Capital.
3 top milestones for 2008-09.
1. Started operating its commercial demonstration plant in 2009. It is expected to produce methanol by the end of 2009 and ethanol shortly after. The plant will produce 1.3 million gallons of ethanol from used electricity poles (treated wood).
2. Signed a 25-year supply agreement with the City of Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) to build and operate a municipal solid waste-to-biofuels project. The project received the necessary environmental permitting, and is ready to start construction by the end of 2009.
3. Announced its first biofuels project for the United States (Mississippi), along with its agreement with the Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority of Mississippi (TRSWMA) for the supply of municipal solid waste as feedstock.
3 major milestone goals for 2010-11.
1. Production of methanol and second generation ethanol will begin at its Edmonton municipal solid waste-to-biofuels production facility. The plant will produce 10 million gallons per year.
2. Construction of its waste-to-biofuels facility in Pontotoc, Mississippi will commence. The plant will produce 20 million gallons per year from sorted municipal solid waste and wood residues.
3. Additional projects will be launched, as Enerkem is currently developing these plans in North America.
Business model: Owner/operator
Competitive edge:
Proven thermo-chemical technology, through more than 3,600 hours of rigorous piloting and testing, since 2003.
Pioneered technology is feedstock flexible, allowing the Company to use sorted municipal solid waste as well as agricultural and forest residues; therefore, can develop projects in both rural and urban centers. One plant is capable of converting more than one type of feedstock.
R&D Collaborations:
University of Sherbrooke, LeHigh University, Mississippi State University and Alberta Energy Research Institute.
Off-take agreements with fuels blenders, refiners, distributors and chemical companies.
Development stage:
Commercial deployment (full-scale plants):
Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) (fully permitted, construction to start end of 2009)
Pontotoc (Mississippi, US) (construction expected to start in 2010)
Enerkem has rigorously gone through the entire path to commercialization, from: lab to pilot to commercial demonstration to commercial. Over 20 types of feedstock have been tested, during more than 3,600 hours of operations at its pilot plant, since 2003. Its commercial demonstration plant is producing a stable and high quality conditioned syngas, which will be the chemical feedstock for the production of methanol and ethanol in the upcoming months.
Metrics: Enerkem has an efficient modular plant model with scalable units of 10 M gallons/year of biofuels from waste and residues. Its standardized plant design can easily be replicated. The 10 M gallons of ethanol can reduce CO2 emissions by 240 000 tonnes per year. Enerkem’s thermo-chemical technology has been proven through more than 3,600 hours of rigorous piloting and testing, since 2003.
The Company has signed a 25 year agreement with the City of Edmonton for the supply of 100,000 tonnes of sorted municipal solid waste to be used as feedstock. The Edmonton biofuels plant will be situated at the City’s leading Edmonton Waste Managed Center (EWMC). Enerkem has also signed a Memorandum of Intent for the supply of189,000 tons of unsorted municipal solid waste per year, for use as feedstock, with the Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority of Mississippi (TRSWMA), for its Pontotoc (Mississippi, US) plant.
Enerkem quotable quotes:
“Enerkem is proud to have gone through the entire rigorous path to commercialization, moving from: lab to pilot to commercial demonstration to commercial. This has allowed Enerkem to ensure a smoother transition to commercialization and an optimization of its process. “
“The Company’s technology is feedstock flexible, allowing it to use sorted municipal solid waste as well as agricultural and forest residues. Therefore, it can develop projects in both rural and urban centers. One of our plants is capable of converting more than one type of feedstock. This gives Enerkem a strong competitive advantage, as its feedstock is a source of revenue (receives waste disposal fee).The technology is also a multi-product technology platform, which makes it possible for Enerkem to produce advanced transportation fuels, green chemicals and renewable electricity- a wide range of projects based on market conditions.”
“Our process is environmentally-friendly, as the water is re-used in a closed-circuit and the process is often a net producer of water; our facilities are compact, decentralized and located near the feedstock supply; and, our use of waste provides an alternative to landfilling and is complementary to recycling. Enerkem’s plant model also requires low energy, as the gasifier is auto-thermal and the chemical reactions produce most of the energy and heat needed.”
Recent News:
In December, Enerkem announced additional details of its $50 million DOE grant for the construction and operation of its waste-to-biofuels facility to be located in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Enerkem’s application is one of only four that have been selected in the larger demonstration scale project category of the Recovery Act – Demonstration of Integrated Biorefinery Operations Program. DOE announced the selected advanced biorefinery projects on December 4.
Enerkem Corporation will build and operate the 300 ton-per-day biorefinery in Mississippi, which will produce 10 million gallons of ethanol annually, as well as green chemicals, from sorted municipal solid waste and wood residues and will reduce the pressure to landfill. Since the announcement of its Mississippi project last March, the company has made substantial progress on the environmental permitting process and has further developed the project with its local partners, the Three Rivers Planning and Development District and the Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority.
The project is expected to create 130 jobs. The company also intends to double the size of its Mississippi biorefinery plant by adding a second module, bringing the total production capacity to 20 million gallons. Governor Haley Barbour, Senator Thad Cochran, Senator Roger Wicker and Congressman Travis Childers also offered supportive comments on the project, here.
50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy for 2009-10: #25, Enerkem is a post from: Biofuels Digest
