Ethanol That Works

Attended the local Orange County California ISA section monthly meeting last night and was pleasantly surprised in a number of areas.

First, attendance was excellent, about 75 people or so. Second, the facility was great, thanks to Fluor for hosting us.

Third, the presentation was very interesting. An Irvine-based company called Bluefire Ethanol is building a pilot plant in the Los Angeles area to convert household green waste to ethanol. After successful demonstration of their patented process, they hope to build plants across the U.S. and maybe eventually the world.

The difference between Bluefire and others is twofold. First, they claim there process is much more efficient in a number of ways. See their web site for much more detail.

Second, waste disposal firms pay them as much as $15/ton to take green waste off their hands. This green waste then becomes their feedstock. This is lots cheaper than buying feedstock in the form of corn, crop waste, or bio-crops grown specifically to provide feedstock.