here's another article from Sept.....arlotte waste-to-energy plant looks for additional fuel sources
Sep 16, 2016, 3:16pm EDT Updated Sep 16, 2016, 3:25pm EDT
INDUSTRIES & TAGS Energy, Food & Lifestyle, Sustainability
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John Downey
Senior Staff Writer
Charlotte Business Journal
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As Charlotte’s Orbit Energy waste-to-energy plant prepares to go on line, likely by mid-October, principal owner Entropy Investment Management and its vendors work to increase the waste sources for fuel at the plant.
David March, a managing partner at Entropy, says the 5.2-megawatt plant has contracts for sufficient food waste to operate when it opens. But the key to long-term power production in a waste-to-energy plant is locking in reliable waste supplies. And he says Entropy is interested in expanding the operation in the future, requiring more food waste.
Contractors with Charlotte-based Blue Sphere working on the final construction phase at the Orbit Energy food-waste power plant it co-owns with majority owner Entropy Investment Management, also of Charlotte.
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Contractors with Charlotte-based Blue Sphere working on the final construction phase at… more
So that means getting the word out to restaurants, stores, industrial facilities and building management companies in the region that there is an alternative to sending waste to the landfill.
Jimmy Contreras, of Charlotte’s RJ Waste Recovery — one of the waste disposal companies that contracts with the plant, says it is an option that can cost them less and make it easier to meet company waste reduction goals.
“It’s great for a lot my customers to have a facility like this in Charlotte,” he says. “And it's good for me, too.”
Solves problems
So he has been approaching existing customers and making many cold calls to potential customers to offer contracts to haul away their food waste. His targets include South End restaurants, regional grocery stores and high-rise buildings uptown.
The tipping fees for the power plant are competitive with the regional landfill, because the plant can covert the waste to energy and other marketable products for sale. Contreras says his transportation costs are often lower, because in many cases, the trip to the Johnson Road plant in north Charlotte is shorter than a trip to the landfill. That means customers have the potential to save money, and Contreras can often burn less fossil fuel transporting it.
“It solves a lot of problems for customers,” says Daniel Rickenman, CEO of First Generation Energy in Columbia, who has been an important consultant for the Orbit plant. “A lot of companies have zero waste and sustainability goals and organics (food waste) are the last frontier.”
Sorting issue
A lot of companies with sustainability goals have turned to composting contractors to handle food waste. But in most cases, composting requires “clean” waste and no packaging or other contaminants, which often puts the burden of sorting through the food waste on the customer.
The Orbit plant is designed to be capable of operating with 10% packaging and other non-organics by weight, and actually could operate well with substantially more, if needed on occasion, says March.
Rickenman says eliminating the need for pre-sorting should make the plant an attractive waste-disposal option for large industrial facilities as well as the commercial and high-rise customers that Contreras deals with. Those operations have large on-site cafeteria and other food facilities that could benefit from a food-waste outlet.
Industrial market
Zero Waste Recycling, which is in the process of moving it headquarters from Lancaster to Charlotte (and the old Merita Bread plant in West Charlotte), deals with industrial customers on both waste and scrap recycling. He says his company is in discussions about using the Orbit plant rather than landfills for the food waste it collects.
“We would be a supplier to them,” he says. "We have product they can use and we would love to divert.”
Simmons says the discussions are still in the early stage, but the Orbit plant is unique in the region.
“We deal with a lot of waste-to-energy plants,” he says. “But none of them do food waste.”
The ability of the plant to accept waste that includes some amount of packaging and other non-organics is an important feature, he says.
Food basin
March says the Orbit plant is designed to separate out packaging and other material as the food and organic waste is processed for feeding into the digesters.
In the large digester tanks, bacteria feed on the organic material and create a biogas, which is used to run the four combustion turbines that produce the electricity. What is not digested by the bacteria will be sold as a soil amendment for a fertilizer base, March says.
Rickenman’s calculations show that the Charlotte region’s “food basin” produces about 2.8 million tons of organic waste that goes to the landfill each year.
No residential
Of that, about 40% is from residential sources, which are not generally used by waste-to-energy plants because collection of the waste can’t be done economically.
That leaves, however, 1.5 million tons a year that could be used by producers such as the Orbit plant.
The current plant needs about 160,000 tons a year to operate at full capacity. March says the plant is already producing biogas. He expects to start generating electricity in 20 to 30 days.
The plant is being built by Blue Sphere Corp. (OTCBB: BLSP), a Charlotte-based company that focuses on digester technology and renewable energy. Entropy, which provided capital and financing for the project, owns 75% of the plant, and Blue Sphere owns the balance.
John Downey covers the energy industry and public companies for the Charlotte Business Journal.
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