Sludge Watch ==> BC Canada- Enviro Carbonization - energy from wood, farm waste, sewage sludge

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

These technologies can offer advantages in renewable energy so long as they 
have excellent emission controls, and function consistently.

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http://www.pgfreepress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=26&cat=23&id=1014130&more=0

Carbon-based bioenergy

By Arthur Williams
Free Press

Jun 27 2007

Prince George-based Alterna Energy Inc. is developing technology which could 
revolutionize the bioenergy sector.

The company is owned by Leonard and Wendy Legault and has offices in Prince 
George and Johannesburg, South Africa. It owns technology for a process 
called, “Enviro Carbonization,” which was developed over several years in 
South Africa.

“A test model is being built in McBride as we speak,” chief technology 
officer Phil Marsh said. “We’ll test wood initially. But in the future we’ll 
start to test other carbonizable materials.”

The processing units are small – about the size of a large house and can 
produce three to six megawatts of heat energy and two megawatts of 
electricity – enough to power about 1,300 homes.

Biological material such as wood, farm waste, sewer sludge or municipal 
solid waste is fed into the carbonizer, which burns off the volatile gasses, 
leaving carbon. The carbon can then be used to make charcoal, water filters, 
soil treatment, carbon pellets, coke for steel production or medicinal 
products.

The carbon can also be gassified and burned to create more heat and 
electricity, Marsh explained.

“We’ve created a biofuel source with a backup like diesel,” Marsh said. “We 
can build up a stockpile of carbon to burn if there is no other material to 
use.”

Another advantage of the system is that the carbon end product is highly 
consistent, unlike other biofuels like wood, he said.

“If I get carbon from a tire or a tree or sewer sludge it’s the same,” he 
said. “The equipment always gets the same feed stock and the same result.”

Although a wide variety of materials have been carbonized in South Africa, 
testing for Canadian emission standards will start with wood, Marsh said.

The units do produce carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas - but are carbon 
neutral because they uses biofuels.

Testing will take place over the summer and Alterna hopes to begin shipping 
units early next year, once third-party testing has been completed.

President and CEO Leonard Legault said there are many smaller, isolated 
mills in B.C. which could benefit from the technology.

“Our goal is to be able to have it on site within six months of signing a 
contract,” Legault said. “They’re modular, we build them in a factory. If 
you need one megawatt, maybe we bring one unit. We can ramp up with 
additional units and ramp down by taking units away.”

Legault said they plan to talk to a number of communities in the north and 
the Lower Mainland about using the carbonizer units to reduce landfill waste 
and provide community heating and power.

A key objective between now and then is to raise awareness in Canada about 
the potential of the technology, he said.

“We’re trying to get government and key people to understand what we’re 
about.”

For more information, go online to www.alternaenergy.ca.