SmartEnergyViews

Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. announced plans to build one of the first commercial-scale production facilities for converting municipal solid waste to ethanol.

The $120 million plant will begin operations in early 2010 at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Nevada. It is expected to produce 10.5 million gallons of ethanol per year from 90,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste including household garbage.

Fulcrum's CEO E. James Macias says "Converting garbage waste into a clean, renewable fuel for cars has profound social and environmental benefits. It will help mitigate our dependence on imported oil, lower the price of gasoline, reduce the amount of waste landfilled, lower greenhouse gases and create a new industry of jobs and economic growth. Unlike conventional ethanol technology, which uses corn and other agricultural feedstock, our plant will utilize processed municipal solid waste which will not affect the cost or availability of our nation's food supply."

The Sierra BioFuels plant will utilize gasification technology licensed from Integrated Environmental Technologies and a licensed proprietary catalytic technology for converting synthesis gas to ethanol jointly developed by Nipawin Biomass Ethanol New Generation Co-operative Ltd. and Saskatchewan Research Council. The process is expected to be environmentally benign, utilizing a gasification process that does not create significant levels of emissions like waste-to-energy incineration technology.

The process converts post-recycled organic waste, and therefore does not compete or interfere with communities' established recycling programs but does reduce landfill volumes and lower waste disposal costs.

Part of the company's business model involves working directly with solid waste disposal companies for access to fixed-price, low or
zero-cost solid waste.