Resource World Magazine

58 www.resourceworld.com A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ALTERNATIVE E n E R G y R E V i E W Developments in Alternative Energy by Jane Bratun Waste-to-biofuel refinery oPens in alberta Montreal-based clean energy company Enerkem has opened its newest waste-to- biofuel facility in Edmonton, Alberta. The facility is the world's first biorefinery to exclusively use municipal solid waste to produce advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals. This production will help the city divert 90% of the residential waste stream from the landfill and is expected to generate nearly $65 million local net eco- nomic spending each year. The company's primary focus is the commercial production of cellulosic ethanol. Its unique process first requires methanol production as a chemical build- ing block for ethanol production. The company also sells its methanol as an end-product, and uses it as a key intermediate to produce other renewable chemicals. Enerkem's clean technology platform is a four-step thermo chemical process that con- verts mixed waste and residues into a pure synthesis gas (or syngas), which is suitable for biofuel and chemical production using available catalysts. With its proprietary technology platform, the company is able to chemically recycle the carbon molecules from non-recyclable waste into a number of products. The process uses relatively low temperatures and pressures, which reduces energy requirements and costs. The new facility will initially focus on producing biomethanol, and advanced ethanol production will begin by the end of 2015. The Alberta Biofuels facility is a 10-year collaborative effort between Enerkem and the City of Edmonton. holland Produces sustainable heating from seaWater CleanTechnica.com contributing author, Silvio Marcacci, recently wrote about a small community, Duindorp, near The Hague, Holland, where developers provided renewable power at prices compliant with Dutch principles. Rules mandate consumer costs stay at the same level for clean energy. "We asked – well, where do we get sus- tainable energy from," said Paul Stoelinga, senior consultant at Dutch environmental engineering firm Deerns International. According to Stoelinga, "The sea is nearby, and these people have a relationship with the sea because of former industry, so why don't we retrieve heat from the sea?" The result is the world's first district heating system, completed in 2008, turning seawa- ter into a sustainable energy source for 800 homes. The process is now in use at several other sites in Europe. The power plant sits inside Duindorp's harbour, where intake valves start the process by drawing seawater into the facil- ity through a five-stage filtering process designed to prevent corrosion and protect sea life, ensuring fish can always escape the intake. That protective step is important, considering the system draws between 26,000-190,000 gallons of water/hour. Marcacci notes that during summer months, harbour water hovers around 70° F, and the facility sends filtered water through five miles of pipes to the homes, where in-home grid-connected 5kWh- capacity heat pumps boost temperatures to between 110-150° F for heating and for warm water through all-electric systems. In winter months, when seawater tem- peratures dip as low as 37° F, a 3-megawatt heat exchanger boosts water temperatures up to a level each home's heat pump can handle – most heat pumps will fail when water falls below 50° F. Developers explored solar energy as an option, but photovoltaic panel costs would have put project costs above consumer price thresholds – a situation that could change as solar power costs decline. While Duindorp's seawater heating may be an environmentally friendly solution, Marcacci also notes the system's relatively affordable economics. Total construction costs for the facility were just 7.5 million, and consumers pay a fixed price of 70 per month for sustainable heat – comparable to costs before the system was completed, all according to Stoelinga. turbines bring electricity to remote villages During a recent conversation with Lynne Tessier of Moose Engineering as well as Andrew Walls and Clayton Bear of New Energy Corporation Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Alberta, Canada, I learned how their compa- nies' EnCurrent™ Power Generation Systems are making major positive contri- butions to the lives of villagers in remote areas. The systems are providing much- needed electricity and helping improve the lives of local people, which ultimately benefits the entire ecosystem. Bear, New Energy's CEO, explained that many remote areas of the develop- ing world, for example in India, Nepal, Burma (Myanmar), and some countries in Africa and South America, do not have access to a reliable, steady source of power. To help solve this problem, the EnCurrent system captures energy from moving water in canals, rivers, industrial outflows, and tidal currents, and converts it into electricity. In a recent proof-of-concept installa- tion, New Energy engineers developed a 5-kilowatt (kW) EnCurrent system for use in Ringmo, a small, 200-person village located in the Dolpa region of Nepal on

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