Hello blog readers, the holidays are coming and the green blogger is becoming stressed out from deadlines so bear with me on the sparse postings. I will try to post recent news as much as possible but unfortunately most will be straight from press releases.
Dutch specialty chemicals company, AkzoNobel, has partnered with Canada’s waste-to-biofuels/chemicals company, Enerkem, to explore the use of waste streams as a feedstock for chemical production and the development of waste-to-chemicals facilities.
The collaboration features a number of industry and semi-governmental partners looking to benefit from Enerkem’s proprietary modular technology that converts waste into synthesis gas – a common starting material for products such as methanol and ammonia.
Aimed at closing the loop by converting waste back into useful products, the initial partners are AkzoNobel, Enerkem, the investment and development agency for the Northern Netherlands NOM, Groningen Seaports, Rotterdam Partners and InnovationQuarter. The partners plan to test various local waste streams, including residual municipal and agricultural waste. Other interested parties are also welcome to join the collaboration.
Within the next two to three years, the partners are aiming to have a plant in Delfzijl or Rotterdam or both become the first in Europe to utilize the new technology.
Enerkem also recently signed an agreement with Qingdao City Construction Investment Group Co. Ltd. to develop a project partnership to jointly build a municipal solid waste-to-biofuels facility in Qingdao, China.
In this partnership, Enerkem will license its exclusive technology to convert local urban waste from China into biofuels and chemicals. The final business structure and sites are under discussions and will be announced at a later time.
This announcement is in addition to another recent MOU made with Shanghai Environmental Group Co. Ltd., a municipal solid waste management company and a subsidiary of Shanghai Chengtou Holding Co. Ltd., and Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute (“SMDERI”). Both projects will also aim to jointly build municipal solid waste-to-biofuels and chemicals facilities in China.
Enerkem operates both a demonstration plant and a pilot facility in Quebec and has also commissioned this year its operations at its first full-scale commercial facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The facility will initially produce 10 mgpy of municipal waste-based biomethanol. A module converting the biomethanol into advanced ethanol will be added by the end of 2015.
