Yesterday, we submitted our Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Attleboro Clean Energy Project to MEPA, the office within Executive Office of Energy and Environment that is charged with conducting reviews of the environmental impacts of development projects and other activities that require one or more State Agency Actions (e.g. the granting of permits) and that exceed MEPA review thresholds, per MEPA regulations.  Ze-gen’s Attleboro Clean Energy Project did not meet any MEPA thresholds for submissions, however, because the Project is first of its kind on a commercial scale in the State we filed our expanded Environmental Notification Form (ENF) in order to bring greater transparency to the permitting process for the first commercial application of our technology.  In response to public comments on our ENF, and the findings of MEPA, we prepared an EIR that discusses in greater detail the impacts associated with the Project. Notification of the filing of the EIR will be printed in the upcoming Environmental Monitor.

An article in the morning’s Sun Chronicle announces our filing and we are excited to be taking this next step in the development of this green energy Project.  The proposed Project will involve the construction and operation of Ze-gen’s advanced liquid metal gasification facility, which will convert specific feedstock streams into clean energy and generate about 7MW of electricity and thermal energy for use by the commercial tenants in the Attleboro Corporate Campus.

Ze-gen’s liquid metal gasification technology produces tar-free syngas that serves as a viable form of alternative non-fossil fuel energy for surrounding industrial facilities. The syngas will be directed to and combusted in a boiler to generate steam, hot water, and subsequently electricity. These products will be sold to businesses within the campus.  The feedstock for Ze-gen’s process is post-recycled, processed materials.  Feedstock will be delivered to the Project site ready-to-use, with the only feedstock material handling at the Attleboro facility being the unloading of the material and its conveyance to the gasification system. Waste wood, including railroad crossties and creosote-treated poles, as well as non-recyclable source-separated plastics, carpet fibers, and residuals from industrial glycol processing will serve as Ze-gen’s feedstock materials.  Much of the proposed feedstock material has undergone rigorous testing at Ze-gen’s demonstration facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The deployment of Ze-gen’s technology in the City of Attleboro offers the Attleboro community, and the Commonwealth as a whole, the opportunity to become a leader in applying advanced gasification solutions to waste resolution and clean energy generation.  The proposed Attleboro Clean Energy Project will bring permanent economic and environmental benefits to both the local community and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Public comments on the EIR can be submitted to the Secretary until October 8th. We are excited about moving forward with the commercial application of our technology and joining the Attleboro community.  Any questions regarding the Project can be submitted at www.attleboroproject.com.

Yesterday, Waste Business Journal reported that average prices to landfill municipal solid waste (MSW), known more commonly as trash or garbage, reached a record high.  Nationally, the average price to landfill a ton of MSW is $43.99, which is 6% higher than last year. Despite the economic downturn, the price of burying our waste continues to rise, which is not only a financial burden to our communities, but an environmental burden.  Landfills are a scourge on society. Once waste is in the ground, it breaks down to form methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), two greenhouse gases (GHG) that have been linked to global warming. In fact, landfills are the second largest anthropogenic source of methane emissions in the U.S.  Significantly reducing the amount of materials landfilled and incinerated has climate benefits comparable to closing one-fifth of all U.S. coal-fired power plants.

Landfills also form leachate, which is contaminated water that can seep into waterways and groundwater supplies. Toxins from leachate can make their way into drinking water.  These toxins include bacteria, dissolved salts, heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and pesticides.  Any number of health problems may stem from leachate.  While landfills are a large and growing problem, the waste that typically finds its way to a landfill represents a local opportunity as a source of renewable energy.  Advanced technologies, such as liquid metal gasification, harness the latent energy value from waste. Instead of benefiting from the tipping fees (the price to dump the waste at the landfill) these technologies create a high-quality energy sold to industrial users in place of fossil fuels.

Diverting waste from landfills for higher and better reuse has the potential to benefit communities both economically and environmentally. As the costs of landfilling continue to rise, it is important that we continue to develop technologies that reduce the need for landfills that also create a high value product to re-purpose these waste streams for higher and better use.

Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu named Ze-gen Board Member Susan Tierney, a Managing Principal at Analysis Group in Boston and an expert on energy policy, regulation and economics, to the nation’s Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB). The twelve member SEAB is being reestablished under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is comprised of scientists, business executives, academics and former government officials.  Sue Tierney, along with the 11 other members, will provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary on the Department’s basic and applied research, economic and national security policy, educational issues, operational issues and other activities as directed by the Secretary.

The Atlantic Monthly notes Chu’s SEAB members “are insiders who know how to fight in Washington’s trenches.”  Sue is the former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy (appointed by President Clinton).  She also served as the Secretary for Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts (appointed by Governor Weld), Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (appointed by Governor Dukakis), and executive director of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Council.  Recently, she co-led the Obama/Biden Transition’s Department of Energy Agency Review Team.   Her area of expertise include gas and electric markets and regulatory policy, resource planning and analysis (including energy efficiency and renewable energy), regional transmission organizations, the siting of generation, transmission and natural gas pipeline projects, and environmental policy and regulation.  We look forward to seeing the advances in energy policy and practice that are sure to come in the future. Congratulations Sue!