Green Options » waste-to-energy

Landfill Biogas - The Rodney Dangerfield of Renewable Power

Susan Kraemer — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:54:04 +0000

Some of the landfill gas at McCarty Road Landfill in Texas was captured for sale to a local utility, but the rest was just getting flared. Now, though, Ameresco Services captures that excess and sends it four miles through an underground pipeline to Anheuser-Busch brewery to meet their goal of getting 15 percent of their needs by 2010 promised a few years ago.

How much business is there to be made in capturing and using waste energy? Well, the company that developed the energy recycling waste-to-power system that helps fuel the biopower plant at the brewery has got to be one of the few companies in this economy to enjoy 47% growth over the last 5 years!

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There They Go Again: Schnitzer Steel Recycles More Fishing Nets

Tina Casey — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:12:27 +0000

Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., which has already made a name for itself by partnering in a Hawaii program that recycles old fishing nets for energy, is at it again. The company has joined in the Fishing for Energy partnership with Covanta Energy, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Together, they will collect old or abandoned fishing nets and other gear at the Oregon coastal ports of Garibaldi and Newport, and send it to Covanta’s waste-to-energy plant. The goal: to help prevent oceanborne derelict fishing gear from harming marine life, and to start making a dent in the notorious Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

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Fuel Cell Technology in the UK

Reethira Kumar — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:50:41 +0000

Fuel cell technology is a pollution-free electricity generation technology that is expected to compete with traditional methods of creating and distributing electricity. Fuel cells can be likened to a continuously fuelled battery that operates by using the chemical properties of hydrogen and oxygen to create useable electric current.
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Denver Landfill Electrifies Waste, Powers 3,000 Homes

G. Riley Meyers — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:08:58 +0000

Notorious for producing the greenhouse gas, methane, and then having to flare it off to avoid the potential danger of explosions, landfills are now converting this gas to electricity that can be fed to the grid.

This September, the Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site, known as DADS, brought its waste-to-energy capabilities online, powering four V-16 Caterpillar engines that generate and sell electricity to utilities company, Xcel Energy.

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Kraft Turning Cheese Waste Into Biogas

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:37:55 +0000

Add Kraft to the growing list of companies that turn waste into energy. Two of the company’s New York cheese plants plan to turn used whey into biogas—enough to provide energy to 2,600 homes. Previously, Kraft relied on other methods to get rid of its waste.

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Distillery Recycles Waste to Create Methane-Rich Biogas

Carol Gulyas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:38:31 +0000

Renewable Energy World reports that Ecovation will create energy from distillery waste at the Maker’s Mark distillery in Kentucky. Ecovation, acquired by Ecolab in February, specializes in generating green energy from organic wastes created by distilleries and wineries, and other businesses using organic inputs, from paper mills to cheesemakers. Their website is full of cheese-related puns, as in The Whey to Renewable Energy.” To quote from the Renewable Energy World article:

“Maker’s Mark’s new facility will anaerobically treat the liquid portion of the whole stillage and process waters produced during bourbon-making, generating methane-rich biogas, a renewable energy source, that will offset 165 MMBtu, or 15 - 30%, of the facility’s natural gas consumption.”

Ecovation is also working with Simi Winery in Sonoma County, to help lighten the burden on publicly-owned treatment facilities by using an ecologically sound method of pre-treating wastewater. The company won a 2007 Environmental Excellence Award from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for its dairy waste stream management solution for Breyers Yogurt Co.

Image Credit: Maker’s Mark

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Green Options » waste-to-energy

Landfill Biogas - The Rodney Dangerfield of Renewable Power

There They Go Again: Schnitzer Steel Recycles More Fishing Nets

Fuel Cell Technology in the UK

Denver Landfill Electrifies Waste, Powers 3,000 Homes

Kraft Turning Cheese Waste Into Biogas

Distillery Recycles Waste to Create Methane-Rich Biogas

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Scientists Turn Water into Wine (Even in a Drought)