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December 2, 2009
Enerken will receive a $50 million grant from the Department of Energy to site a project at an existing landfill and use feedstocks such as woody
biomass and biomass removed from municipal solid waste to produce ethanol and other green chemicals through gasification and catalytic processes.
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March 19, 2009 (from Earth2Tech.com)
If you live in Mississippi, your garbage could soon be turned into ethanol. Montreal-based Enerkem said today that it's heading south for its next commercial-scale plant, with plans to build a 20-million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Pontotoc, Miss.
Enerkem said it expects the $250 million project, which includes the cost of an upstream municipal solid waste recycling and pre-treatment center, will be able to convert about 60 percent of the trash that comes into the Three Rivers landfill, which handles garbage from the counties of Calhoun, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Monroe, Pontotoc, and Union in Mississippi.
Enerkem said its plant will go up next to the landfill, taking in 189,000 tons of unsorted municipal solid waste annually under a preliminary deal that the company signed with the Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority of Mississippi. Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed.
This is Enerkem's first move into the U.S.; the company told us in January that it was looking at the possibility of a project in the States, as well as another plant in Canada. At the time, Enerkem, which is backed by Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and BDR Capital, also said it was seeking more financing.
The Mississippi project, which will be constructed, owned, and operated by Enerkem, is a big jump from the company's first commercial-scale plant, a 1.3-million gallon facility in Westbury, Quebec. In January, the company said the Westbury plant, which will make ethanol from used utility poles, was within a few months of starting production. The company also has plans for a 10 million-gallon plant in Edmonton, Alberta, in partnership with Toronto's GreenField Ethanol that will get also feedstock from a landfill, just like the Mississippi facility.
But the Mississippi plant won't just be running on garbage; it's also expected to use wood residues from regional forest and agricultural operations, construction and demolition waste, and treated wood. And as for those "green jobs" we've been hearing so much about, Enerkem says the Mississippi plant will create 150 long-term direct and indirect jobs, as well as an additional 300 jobs over the construction and startup phases. We contacted Enerkem to find out when those jobs might be starting, but the company has yet to release any details on a timeline for the project.
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January 13, 2009
MONTREAL, Canada Jan. 12, 2009 Enerkem Inc., a leading advanced biofuels and biochemicals technology company, announced today that its first commercial-scale plant located in Westbury, Quebec, is entering the start-up phase with the production of its clean conditioned synthesis gas.
Construction on the plant began in October 2007 and the facility was mechanically complete in December 2008. The conditioned synthesis gas (syngas) island has been finalized and is in an advanced commissioning stage in preparation for its upcoming start-up. The premium syngas island serves as the chemical production platform, from which the methanol and ethanol production modules will be added progressively over the next months. Once these gas-to-liquid modules are bolted to the syngas island, Enerkem will become the first producer of liquid fuels and green chemicals to commercially use renewable, non-food, negative-cost feedstock.
"The conditioned synthesis gas island is the core of our technology platform as it is where we produce a clean tailored syngas that serves as a chemical source for the production of advanced biofuels and biochemicals" , said Mr. Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. "We have followed a rigorous path to commercialization since the beginning of our pilot plant back in 2003 and we intend to apply the same disciplined approach at Westbury. The first step is our premium syngas which leads to our goal of becoming a world leader in the production of second-generation transportation fuels and green chemicals."
The company's Westbury plant will be the world's first ethanol plant to use negative-cost and unconventional materials treated wood from used electricity poles. It is operated by a team of 13 people and will, at term, produce 5 million litres (1.3 million gallons) of second-generation ethanol annually. The Enerkem thermo-chemical process uses one tonne of waste to produce 360 litres (95 gallons) of ethanol: enough fuel for a car to travel 2,500 km (1,550 miles), the distance from Winnipeg to Montreal, or Los Angeles to Houston.
Enerkem's renewable fuels represent a new technology path towards environmentally friendly energy, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by using materials that would otherwise produce methane when landfilled and by producing a renewable fuel for cars, buses and trucks. Unlike first-generation biofuels, or agrofuels, which are produced from sugar-rich crops such as corn and sugar cane, Enerkem's second-generation biofuels are produced from biomass and waste materials.
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March 11 /PRNewswire/ --GreenField Ethanol, Canada's largest ethanol producer, and Enerkem, a leading gasification and catalysis technology company, have signed a Binding Term Sheet outlining their plan to produce cellulosic ethanol on a commercial scale.
"We are excited to work with Enerkem to make cellulosic ethanol a commercial reality in Canada," said Bob Gallant, President and CEO of GreenField Ethanol. "Canadian consumers are looking for a greener, affordable alternative to fossil fuels and GreenField is delivering by expanding its corn ethanol business to include new bio-based fuels," added Frank Dottori, Managing Director of the company's Cellulosic Ethanol division.
The companies agreed to terms that will see them collaborate 50/50 on joint projects to design, build and operate commercial cellulosic ethanol plants using Enerkem technology in specified geographic areas. The first plant location has been secured within Canada and will be announced in the coming weeks. A second plant is also in development.
Enerkem's technology converts biomass such as sorted municipal solid waste and urban wood residues into cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. It eliminates more than two tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per tonne of residues used as feedstock. The company's founders have been active in gasification for many years. Enerkem's pilot plant, which has run more than 3,000 hours since 2003, produces syngas, methanol and cellulosic ethanol. The company is currently building a commercial scale cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Westbury, Quebec.
"This partnership is an important milestone in achieving Enerkem's goal to commercialize cellulosic ethanol" , said Mr. Vincent Chornet, Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. "By joining forces with GreenField Ethanol, we are poised to become the Canadian leaders in the production and distribution of new generation biofuels. GreenField's experience in building and operating industrial plants will be key to scaling up our production."
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March 4, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/
Enerkem today announced progress on the construction of its commercial demonstration plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol.
The Enerkem plant in Westbury, Canada will be one of the first plants in the world to make cellulosic ethanol at an industrial scale. It will produce 1.5 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol from creosoted urban wood (end-of-life cycle power poles). This first demonstration plant represents a major step for Enerkem, coming after more than 3,000 hours of testing since 2003 at its pilot plant in Sherbrooke, Canada.
Construction on the Westbury plant began in October 2007 and will be completed this fall. The next phase consists of installing the gasification and gas conditioning equipment, which is at the core of Enerkem's technology. This phase will be followed by the construction of the catalytic islands where the syngas will be reformed into cellulosic ethanol.
This plant is the first in a series of industrial projects to be announced in the months ahead which will be using municipal solid waste and for which the company will be paid to use in its process.
Unlike traditional ethanol, which is produced from cereals or plants that are part of the food chain, cellulosic ethanol is made from materials that have a lignocellulosic biomass, such as wood residues and solid urban wastes, known as residual materials.
"Enerkem is a pioneer in the emerging world market for cellulosic biofuels," says Vincent Chornet, Enerkem's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Unlike other gasification technologies, which are limited to using the gas for the production of heat and electricity, Enerkem's synthetic gas is conditioned for use as a chemical feedstock in the manufacturing of higher value-added products, such as cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels," Mr. Chornet adds. "This approach redefines current waste management practices into a more sustainable and economical solution," he concludes.
This new generation of renewable biofuels offers many advantages. It contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by using materials that would otherwise produce methane when landfilled. It also produces a renewable fuel for cars, replacing gasoline which is produced from oil.
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Enerkem announces its executive team
Montreal, Canada (February 1st, 2008) -Enerkem Inc. announced today its executive management team composed of new and existing members.
Messrs. Vincent Chornet and Esteban Chornet, two founders of the company, have been appointed respectively Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Two new executives, Messrs. Pierre Richard and Dino Mili, have recently joined the company. Mr. Pierre Richard has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Dino Mili is Vice-President, Business Development.
Mr. Vincent Chornet has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding and leading Enerkem, Mr. Chornet was involved as an entrepreneur and consultant in developing and funding industrial projects and in assisting start-up companies in the fields of power production and specialty chemicals. He is also co-founder of Fractal Systems Inc., a private technology company active in upgrading heavy-oil and bitumen crudes into lighter oils. Previously, he was at the Laurentian Bank of Canada.
Mr. Esteban Chornet has been appointed Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Chornet was Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. He also worked, from 1993 to 2003, at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Colorado (U.S.A.), as Principal Research Engineer.
Mr. Pierre Richard has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Enerkem, Mr. Richard was Vice-President Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Transforce Income Fund, a transportation and logistic company, and at CSL Group Inc., a worldwide shipping organization. Prior to that, he successively held the positions of Vice-President Finance, Executive Vice-President, and President-General Manager at the following companies: WCI Canada Limited, Consolidated Bathurst and UniMédia Inc.
Mr. Dino Mili has been appointed Vice-President, Business Development. Mr. Mili has over 15 years of experience in the development, acquisition and project financing of energy projects including hydro, wind, forestry biomass, and landfill gas projects. He has worked for different companies including Domtar Inc., a pulp and paper company, and CHI Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Enel GreenPower, a world leader in the renewable energy sector.
"I am pleased to welcome Pierre Richard and Dino Mili to Enerkem. They are seasoned executives in their respective fields and their expertise will prove valuable to our team. Combined with our strong process engineering and research and development teams, I am confident this solid executive team will scale Enerkem's business successfully in this growing market for cellulosic fuels" , said Vincent Chornet, Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem.
About Enerkem
Enerkem is a leader in the production of cellulosic fuels using a unique clean gasification and catalysis technology, which transforms sorted municipal solid waste and wood residues into ethanol and other biofuels. Enerkem operates a pilot plant since 2003 and is currently building an industrial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Quebec. Other plants will follow in partnership with world class organizations. Enerkem is headquartered in Montreal, Canada and currently employs 34 people.
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