Anaerobic Digestion:

The Waste Conversion Technology prole

1st Annual Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo 16th-17th May 2012

Anaerobic Digestion The Waste Conversion Technology prole

INTRODUCTION

Anaerobic Digestion Pros: Limited emissions issues, greater public acceptance Cons: Feedstock contamination risk, low outputs, scale up issues A naturally-occurring process where organic material is left to rot down without the presence of oxygen, allowing natural bacteria to multiply and break down the solid waste, this produces biogas and other by-products used commercially, such as fertiliser. The material or feedstock required is entirely organic, and typically comes from agriculture, the food industries, and municipal green waste. The feedstock is delivered raw to the digestion plant, rened, and deposited in a digester tank to begin the process. There are many versions of digester, and the time taken to completely process the waste can vary, but is typically an average of eight weeks. This compares favourably with the composting of organic waste, which is usually at least a 12-week process, and which produces no signicant recapture of energy. Anaerobic digestion systems fall roughly into four categories: Wet digestion - Fluid slurry; optimal microorganism contact Dry digestion - High gas yield; less space needed Mesophilic digestion - Stable, lower yield Thermophilic - Higher biogas volumes; short time period; greater energy requirement; emissions risk

Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo

Conference & Exhibition 16th-17th May 2012

Use Municipal Solid Waste to build, expand and diversify a protable Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Business
www.renewable-waste.com/ anaerobic-digestion-conference

In addition, there are two di erent methods of engaging the anaerobic digestion process: Batch Multistage

Anaerobic Digestion The Waste Conversion Technology prole

Batch is the lowest tech, as well as the cheapest. However, it results in a large footprint, and its yields are generally lower, as percolation of the waste is hindered, and clogging can occur. Multi-stage processes keep the main stages of anaerobic digestion separate, so the microorganisms work most e ciently, and only during the methanogenic stage is heat required, reducing the need to introduce energy expenditure into the process of energy recovery. Naturally, multistage digesters are more expensive and more complex than batch. Equally, small-scale wet digesters require little or no mechanical input as the process of gas release provides enough movement within the base material to mix; however, large scale and dry digestion both need the introduction of mechanical mixers, again requiring energy inputs. Critics of this technology will point out that this process is not completely emission-free, although there are companies which claim to be able to reduce these signicantly. There are many di erent ways of operating an anaerobic digester; however, the most common emissions are carbon dioxide, ammonia, and nitrogen and sulphur oxides. A digester also requires energy required to run. It should be expected that part of the total energy production of the digester will be diverted back into running it. Despite clear benets in the generation of renewable energy, and the fact that it qualies for carbon credits, opposition to the siting of these digesters is expected. Anaerobic digesters are particularly adept at processing agricultural waste, and so a site of any signicant size would expect to see a rise in waste tra c, as well as generating the aforementioned emissions.

Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo

Conference & Exhibition 16th-17th May 2012

Use Municipal Solid Waste to build, expand and diversify a protable Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Business
www.renewable-waste.com/ anaerobic-digestion-conference

Application The Agilyx anaerobic processing facility at Tigard, Oregon has been in operation for 18 months, processing 10 tons per day of plastic and resin, producing crude oil and natural gas with a ratio of 8.5-10tons of plastic to 1 gallon synthetic crude oil. Series B funding totalling more than $22m has been led by Kleiner Perkins Cauleld & Byers with partners Waste Management and Total Energy Ventures International.

Anaerobic Digestion The Waste Conversion Technology prole

Background: Founded in 2008, this Ontario-based Cleantech Company aims to provide a pure stream of compost and energy from Municipal Source Separated Organic materials (MSSO) using anaerobic digestion. Harvest Power is about to begin the construction of the countrys rst high e ciency system for producing renewable energy from food and yard waste at its Fraser Richmond Soil & Fibre facility. The project will use Harvests high solids anaerobic digestion (HSAD) technology, diverting up to 27,000 tons of food and yard waste from land all every year. The announcement of the Richmond plant came shortly after the companys acquisition of an anaerobic digestion project under development in London, Ontario. The future facility already has a permit and power purchase agreement in place with the Ontario Power Authority, and was set to generate 2.8MW of renewable electricity from biogas, able to power 1,400 homes and create several thousand tons of organic fertiliser. In January 2012, Harvest Powers renewable waste management activities earned it B-Corp status, which holds companies bearing the certication above the norm in terms of social and environmental responsibility.

Harvest Power case study

Table 21: Harvest power funding schedule

Source: Crunch Base Prole (2012): http://www.crunchbase. com/company/harvest-power. Last accessed 20 Feb 2012

Funding Source Series A1 venture capital Debt o ering Unknown Sale of options or warrants for equity Generation Investment Management Series B SAM Private Equity

Amount 10m 7.5m 1.25 500,000 51.7 6.3

Reported Date 04/12/2009 10/11/10 2/09/11 8/7/11 03/11 24/05/11

Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo

Conference & Exhibition 16th-17th May 2012

Use Municipal Solid Waste to build, expand and diversify a protable Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Business
www.renewable-waste.com/ anaerobic-digestion-conference

Anaerobic Digestion The Waste Conversion Technology prole

Investment: Supported by a mix of venture capital investment, government funding, and support from established waste corporates, such as Waste Management, the company recently successfully completed $51m of Series B nancing. It also announced that it was bringing the former CFO of Waste Management, Bob Simpson, onto its board of directors. In 2010, the company announced it had received a grant of $4m from the Canadian government over two years to help nance the Richmond plant. Already benetting from rst mover advantage in a very under-populated market in North America, Harvest Power decided early on to focus on high quality MSSO, rather than the more plentiful Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). According to Paul McMenemy, Regional Vice President at Harvest Power, the decision made both technological and nancial sense. The MSW stream is highly contaminated. Around 20-30% of it is organic material; however, there is also a lot of inorganic. We are looking for a very clean stream of feedstock and so source it from commercial food suppliers, grocery stores or restaurants that already separate their waste. If you have glass contamination at the front end, youre going to have it at the back end, and that devalues your product. There are digesters that are taking MSSO that is very contaminated, with up to 40% inorganic product, and they struggle to produce the quantity or quality of outputs required.

Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo

Conference & Exhibition 16th-17th May 2012

Use Municipal Solid Waste to build, expand and diversify a protable Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Business
www.renewable-waste.com/ anaerobic-digestion-conference

Anaerobic Digestion The Waste Conversion Technology prole

The Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo 2012 has the express purpose of turning the municipal solid waste disposal industry into a supply industry that generates cash. This event will give the entrepreneurial and the technological alike the opportunity to get nanced and approved Fast! The event will cover: Business Model: Grasp the economic drivers and develop your business strategy to include MSW as you expand into new markets Finance: Secure investment and nance to build facilities by assessing debt, equity, bond and public nancing opportunities Government policy and regulation: Understand what support is available, how states di er and how to reduce costly time delays Infrastructure: A best Practice guide to delivering successful AD facilities and developing strong relationships with project stakeholders Operations: Integrate new techniques, processes and business practices to ensure you maximise e ciency as you incorporate MSW at your facilities To nd out more, visit: www.renewable-waste.com/ anaerobic-digestion-conference

Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo

Conference & Exhibition 16th-17th May 2012

Use Municipal Solid Waste to build, expand and diversify a protable Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Business
www.renewable-waste.com/ anaerobic-digestion-conference