¦POWER Pursuing Renewable Revenue
PHOTO: PHG ENERGY
The city of Covington currently transports wastewater and dewatered sludge to a landfill that requires a two-hour round trip. Wood waste created in the city is also hauled out of the city, requiring a onehour trip. Because of the costs associated with hauling and disposal, Gordon began looking into better alternatives for the city. “When I first heard about biomass gasification, I was at a Tennessee Renewable Energy and Economic Development Corp’s seminar,” he says. “I listened to a gentlemen talk about biomass gasification and it really got my interest.” Through a mutual business acquaintance and more research, Wilson got in touch with the team from PHG Energy. There were other firms he spoke with and even other options discussed for utilizing VICTORY FOR THE MAYOR: The contracts have all been signed and this fall, PHG Energy will put the waste, one that included converting Mayor Gordon’s (pictured left) waste-to-energy vision on full display. the sludge to a class A sludge, which would suance from the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund and a grant from allow the city more leniency for disposal methods. Now, Gordon the Clean Tennessee Energy Grant program offered by the state’s and the team at PHG Energy can point to several takeaways from Department of Environment and Conservation, will pay for some the Covington project and why downdraft gasification not only things any mayor would gladly promote: new soccer fields, baseball won out in the small Tennessee town, but why it can succeed in other places at larger scales. fields and a walking trail for the city of 9,000. The most glaring reason downdraft gasification makes sense is “I’m already getting contacts from municipalities that want to see how this is working,” he says of the close-to-construction that it fits into a popular belief in the biomass industry, that conproject, some calls coming from nearly 500 miles away. The excess version technology should be feedstock flexible. Turns out, mayrevenue generated through the tipping fees and in-house electri- ors like that idea as well. “In Covington,” says Chris Koczaja, vice cal generation is nice, he says, adding however, that “the project is president of sales and engineering for PHG Energy, “the biosolids alone would not work.” By taking a gasification approach, however, positive for other reasons.”
30 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2012