Dive Brief:

• UK-based biomass-to-liquid fuel specialist Velocys has entered into an agreement with Ventech Engineers to install process modules for ENVIA’s Oklahoma City landfill gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant.
• The project will produce syngas through steam methane reforming or autothermal reforming as well as by converting syngas to "paraffinic hydrocarbon," as described in Waste Management World. This WTE model is intended to demonstrate use of Velocys' and Ventech's method of using landfill gas/natural gas as feedstock. The companies say the products can be blended with naturally occurring crude oil to produce ultra-clean diesel, kerosene (jet fuel), naphtha, bases for synthetic lubricants and waxes, among other "green" products.
• Velocy pledged to support ENVIA Energy in the project’s launch with up to $12 million. The construction of the modular process units is complete, as is the creation of the full-scale reactors and initial catalyst charge. Mechanical work on the plant, which will be adjacent to Waste Management’s East Oak landfill, is slated to be finished by mid 2016.

Dive Insight:

Waste-to-energy models continue to evolve, with their developers touting them as the latest and most promising renewable energy innovations. This particular model, to serve as a commercial reference for creating renewable fuel using GTL technology, has pulled in big players who believe it is worth the time and investment to pool their resources: ENVIA Energy is a joint venture of Waste Management, Ventech Engineers International, and Velocys.

This project enables Waste Management to expand its focus in gas recovery and GTL fuel, while Velocys has plans to cash in too; the company anticipates its loan terms will enable it to gain a sizable equity share and some control over the plant’s start up and operations—claiming ownership of some building blocks to construct a pioneering model.