[getsmart-l] Rod Bryden - turning the dross of municipal waste into the pure gold of clean power

[John O'Gorman]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071203.wrplasco03/BNStory/energy/
Garnering green gigawatts from garbage
Ottawa high-tech entrepreneur Rod Bryden gets private equity backing for patented waste-to-energy system 
SHAWN MCCARTHY 

>From Monday's Globe and Mail December 3, 2007 at 6:05 AM EST

Ottawa high-tech entrepreneur Rod Bryden is pursuing the alchemist's dream of turning the dross of municipal waste into the pure gold of clean power that reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Bryden, best known as former owner of the Ottawa Senators, two years ago became chief executive officer at Plasco Energy Group, which has a patented, low-emissions system for converting municipal waste into electricity.

This morning, Plasco is due to announce the $35-million purchase of common shares by First Reserve Corp., a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity fund that specializes in the energy sector.

The investment will finance the commercialization of Plasco's waste conversion technology, and brings to $90-million the amount of equity invested in Plasco since August, 2005, shortly after Mr. Bryden took over.

As well, First Reserve has allocated $115-million for investment in Plasco next year to fund the commercialization and construction of plants that the company expects to be building.

"There has just been an excellent response [to Plasco's business plan] - the capital markets have been very responsive," Mr. Bryden said in an interview.

"It's quite unusual for an investor to do what they've done," he said of First Reserve's publicly stated commitment for next year.

"I think what that indicates is that they see this area as a priority for investing, and they recognize there is now some competitive demand to participate in this company."

Much of that demand emanates from the United States and London, he noted, adding that the Toronto investment community is less-advanced in identifying and investing in leading clean-tech or renewable energy firms.

In a statement to be released this morning, First Reserve vice-president Glenn Payne said the private equity group has allocated 10 per cent of its $7.8-billion (U.S.) fund to renewable energy.

"Our investment [in Plasco] builds on our knowledge of the waste-to-energy business through prior investments and our continued appetite for economically attractive renewable energy opportunities," Mr. Payne said. Plasco Energy converts municipal solid waste to a synthetic fuel, which is then burned to produce electricity in internal combustion engines.

A demonstration plant that has been operating for six months in Ottawa can handle 85 tonnes a day of garbage - about 7 per cent of the city's household waste - and generates four megawatts of power to be sold into the grid.

The company also has a tentative agreement with the waste commission of central Alberta to build a 300-tonne per day plant in Red Deer, subject to the successful operation of the Ottawa facility.

Mr. Bryden said Plasco is bidding on a project in Los Angeles, has two other municipalities that are ready to sign contracts, and 10 projects for which negotiations are "well advanced."

In Ontario, Plasco aims to be able to charge municipalities about $65 a tonne for taking the waste, less than most communities pay to get it into a landfill.

And he expects to receive 11 cents per kilowatt hour for the power in Ontario, about the same amount that is paid to companies that generate energy from landfill methane, but far less than the province is offering for solar-powered electricity.

The advantage of the Plasco system, he added, is that the waste is converted to energy before it is sent to the landfill. By doing so, it eliminates the methane that would be generated in a landfill, while systems that pipe such gas to power plants typically lose 30 per cent of the methane. (Methane is considered four times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.) As a result, a Plasco plant generates a greenhouse gas credit worth 2.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for every megawatt of power produced, and those credits generate revenue for the purchaser of the power.

At the same time, the Plasco conversion process produces no dioxins or furans - a key concern for municipalities with traditional waste incinerators.

One man's trash ...

What flows from one tonne of waste with Plasco conversion system

Energy - 1400 kilowatt hours (55 days of the power requirement for an average household)
Vitrified slag, sold as aggregate - 15 kilograms 
Sulphur (sold as soil enhancement) - 5 kilograms 
Heavy metals (mercury, cadmium) - 1.3 kilograms
Potable water - 300 litres
Salt (sold for de-icing) - 5 to 10 kilograms 
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