Company Report: Enerkem, Inc.
Transforming waste into bio-energy
Energy Digital learns that this Montreal company is a global leader in both the technology that converts biomass into liquid fuels and development of the commercial production plants
Written by Ulrika G. Gerth & Produced by Xan Wynne-Jones | Wed Jan 6, 2010
energydigital.com
Only a few months away from the groundbreaking of the world’s first commercial plant to convert municipal solid waste to ethanol, Enerkem, Inc., the company behind the revolutionary technology, already vies for markets across the globe.
Thousands of hours of rigorous R&D and exhaustive piloting have for the past nine years prepared Montreal-basedEnerkem for commercialization. The result is a clean technology platform that the company expects will be in high demand as local and national governments as well as other players worldwide seek innovative solutions to waste management and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our goal is to become a world leader in transforming waste into bio-energy, including bio-fuels, chemicals and green electricity,” says Marie-Hélène Labrie, Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications. “The flexibility of feedstock gives us a significant competitive advantage.”
RECYCLING WASTE
Few competitors have achieved the ability to utilize such diverse feedstocks. Enerkem’s proprietary technology allows for the use of negative-cost feedstock such as municipal solid waste and used electricity poles, meaning a tipping fee is collected for their disposal. In other words, instead of ending up in a landfill where it would decompose into methane, the waste plays a pivotal role in the movement from a petroleum- to a bio-fuels economy. “We really see ourselves as recyclers,” Labrie notes.
The gasification and catalytic synthesis technology platform also is developed to convert construction and demolition wood, treated wood, forest residues and agricultural waste into second-generation bio-fuels and green chemicals.
The process begins with the transformation of waste materials and biomass into a synthetic gas. The “syngas” is, in turn, converted into liquid fuels such as ethanol, synthetic diesel, synthetic gasoline, dimethyl ether, and green chemicals.
Every developmental step has been tested to ensure commercial viability, first in the laboratory, then at the pilot plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where approximately 20 different types of feedstocks have been used to scrutinize and validate the technology; and, finally, at the industrial demonstration plant in Westbury, Quebec.
“We’re not dependent on expensive homogenous feedstock,” Labrie points out. “We can take lower value feedstock and, in our case, we get paid to take the feedstock because it’s an alternative to landfilling. It gives us another competitive advantage from a cost perspective and in terms of opportunity since we can locate our plants next to the feedstocks. It reduces the risk of any project.”
VISION OF FOUNDERS
That flexibility is directly linked to the vision of co-founder andChief Technology Officer Esteban Chornet, a chemical engineering professor with a resume that includes a position as Principal Research Engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Chornet has for the past 40 years conducted advanced research in gasification technology and the conversion of biomass into liquid fuels.
He founded Enerkem in 2000 together with his son, Vincent Chornet, now President and Chief Executive Officer. Their combined expertise, with Vincent Chornet’s entrepreneurial background in developing industrial projects in the power production and specialty chemical sectors, give the company a solid foundation.
“A lot of good ideas stay at the R&D phase and never make it into the commercial world,” Labrie says. “The key is financing and access to capital. We had success in attracting investors to build our plants and we’ve been successful in getting support from the government. We’ve always aligned our technology with government objectives to reduce greenhouse gases and increase energy independence.”
UNIQUE AGREEMENT
Edmonton, Alberta reviewed 150 different types of technology to increase its waste diversion rate, which, at 60 percent, was already the highest in North America. But the city aimed for 90 percent and Enerkem was selected for the job. The 25-year agreement for 100,000 tonnes of sorted municipal waste per year – which will produce 10 million gallons of ethanol - is unlike any other in the world and serves as a model for the company’s future projects. Scheduled to start construction in a few months, it will be Enerkem’s first commercial plant and the world’s first plant of its kind.
A second bio-refinery – the company’s first venture into the United States - will soon follow in Pontotoc, MS, after an announcement in early December that Enerkem has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive $50 million in funding for its construction. The project is developed with two local partners, the Three Rivers Planning and Development Authority and the Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority.
Both plants are standardized modules that the company intends to replicate all over North America and employ 25-30 people each.
“They’re easy to manufacture and design so you efficiently establish plants near feedstock supplies,” Labrie explains. “We can use one or two modules so it’s scalable depending on the availability of biomass.”
GROWTH AHEAD
The company’s transition to commercial production has resulted in more than a doubling of the number of employees, from 20 two years ago to 64 today. Among the new additions are a business development team to find sites and feedstock supply, a project management team, and government relations and communications staff. A close relationship with the University of Sherbrooke, where Enerkem’s engineering department is located, gives the company direct access to the best students.
“A key success factor is attracting good people, building a team and creating a corporate and organizational culture where we all work to achieve the same objectives,” Labrie says.
Despite the economic downturn, Enerkem predicts future growth, driven by government mandates for renewable fuels. In the United States, the maximum sustainable U.S. production of corn-based ethanol is approximately 15 billion gallons per year – a shortfall of 20 billion gallons to meet the federal mandate. Second-generation fuels can fill the gap and Enerkem is ready to deliver.
“We’re in negotiations with other cities, counties and groups in North America as well as Europe and Asia, but we want to take it one step at a time.” Labrie says. “Our vision is to become a multinational.”
energydigital.com |
