BP's next challenge: Disposal of tainted sludge - (Coskata's got the answer: Turn it into ethanol!)

[JohnWxy]

Turn this toxic waste into Ethanol that will replace gasoline, reducing imports of oil and reducing GHG emissions to boot!


BP's next challenge: Disposal of tainted sludge - USA Today


Oil giant BP is facing a huge new challenge in disposing of the millions of gallons of potentially toxic oil sludge its crews are collecting from the Gulf of Mexico, according to industry experts and veterans of past spills.

Crews so far have skimmed and sucked up 21.1 million gallons of oil mixed with water, according to the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command. Because the out-of-control well may continue spewing for months, that total almost certainly will surge.

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Coskata, and others have the answer. Coskata says they can make ethanol from any hydro-carbon source material (like oil crud). Get rid of the sludge (which cannot be refined into gas or deisel) by making into ETHANOL - which can be used in cars and trucks and will reduce our imports of foreign oil!

http://www.coskata.com/process/index.asp?source=D5E7FB22-6034-405B-898B-58DE4651645D

Feedstock independent - Virtually any carbon-containing input materials can be converted to syngas, including energy crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus; wood chips, forestry products, corn stover, bagasse and other typical agricultural wastes; municipal waste and industrial organic waste like petroleum coke.

BRI Energy uses a process of gasification to make electricity AND ethanol from solid hydrocarbon waste (including used tirres and coal). If they can make ethanol from used tires they ought to be able to make it from oil sludge!

The Co-Production of Ethanol and Electricity From Carbon-based Wastes


The BRI Renerwable Energy Process

A new gasification/fermentation process developed for BRI Energy, Inc. (“BRI”) by a
team led by Dr. James L. Gaddy of Fayetteville, Arkansas, makes possible the coproduction
of electricity and ethanol from any carbon-based materials, including:

• Municipal Solid Waste
• Biosolids
• Corn Stover and other agricultural residues
• Timber and Wood Waste
• Used Tires or Plastics
• Coal, natural gas and other hydrocarbons

[chill_wind]

1. K & R

Shame to see this drop without comment or interest.

[Nihil]

2. If they can do it, go ahead and prove it.

> Coskata says they can make ethanol from any hydro-carbon source material
> (like oil crud). Get rid of the sludge (which cannot be refined into gas
> or deisel) by making into ETHANOL - which can be used in cars and trucks
> and will reduce our imports of foreign oil!

> BRI Energy uses a process of gasification to make electricity AND ethanol
> from solid hydrocarbon waste (including used tirres and coal). If they can
> make ethanol from used tires they ought to be able to make it from oil sludge!

If either (or both) of them can deliver on their claims they should go
ahead and prove it as I'm sure that the folks on the Gulf coast would be
delighted to be processing the sludge rather than just tipping it into
landfills.

What's stopping them from making a huge public demonstration of how useful
their technology is?
:shrug:

[JohnWxy]

3. here's a tip: it takes a few bucks to get a manufacturing facility built & running.

by "few" I mean "millions of dollars" and some time to take the process from laboratory to industrial scale (not exactly a 'piece of cake').

Coskata has apparently impressed a few investors that their process has a good chance of working though, like: French oil supermajor Total S.A., Blackstone Cleantech Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, Arancia and General Motors.


Also, http://cleantech.com/news/5168/gm-testing-cellulosic-ethanol-coska">GM is testing cellulosic ethanol from Coskata’s demo plant.


some info on a couple of the investors:

G.M. Buys Stake in Ethanol Made From Waste

http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=3840

French oil supermajor Total S.A. has invested in Warrenville, Ill.-based cellulosic ethanol company Coskata Inc., leading the company’s Series C-Prime funding round. Total will now have a seat on Coskata’s board of directors.

Total says the investment is part of the company’s strategy to prepare for an energy transition, which involves supporting the development of innovative start-ups through its Corporate Venture Activity. Also participating in the transaction were several of Coskata’s prior investors, including Blackstone Cleantech Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, and Arancia.

Coskata made its initial public debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, when General Motors Co. announced it had taken an undisclosed ownership stake in the company

[Nihil]

4. Ah, I see ... what you meant was "Coskata *claim* they will *eventually* have the answer".

> Coskata has apparently impressed a few investors that their process has a
> good chance of working though

That's a bit different from "Coskata's got the answer" isn't it?

Like the difference between "Yes it works, look here" and "If you give me
some more money, it might work at some time in the future, if you are lucky".

:eyes:


Sorry, I overlooked the weasel words in your original post:
>> Coskata says they can make ethanol from any hydro-carbon source material
>> (like oil crud). Get rid of the sludge (which cannot be refined into gas
>> or deisel) by making into ETHANOL - which can be used in cars and trucks
>> and will reduce our imports of foreign oil!
>>
>> BRI Energy uses a process of gasification to make electricity AND ethanol
>> from solid hydrocarbon waste (including used tirres and coal). If they can
>> make ethanol from used tires they ought to be able to make it from oil sludge!

I had hoped that you were reporting a real-world possibility for getting rid
of the sludge rather than just re-issuing tacky puff-pieces.

My mistake ... serves me right for being optimistic ... :-(

[JohnWxy]

6. no, Coskata can have the answer, but not yet have it scaled up and running at industrial scale.

The investors in Coskata aren't revealing now much they put into Coskata but it's milliions of $s. That means they are convinced Coskata's process will work and can be profitable on an industrial scale.

Did I mean Coskata is actually ready to run down to the Gulf and start converting oil gunk into ethanol. No, not really (unfortunately). But I think they will get their process to work and IMO this is aa good thing.

[trof]

5. Or they could grow mushrooms.

I like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BelfLIJErek

[Greyskye]

7. Anything's better then the mess they're making now:

Shoddy disposal work mars oil cleanup

A leaky truck filled with oil-stained sand and absorbent boom soaked in crude pulls away from the beach, leaving tar balls in a public parking lot and a messy trail of sand and water on the main beach road. A few miles away, brown liquid drips out of a disposal bin filled with polluted sand.

(much more at link)

trof caught this one: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8625909

[The Croquist]

8. Probably the biggest issue is time

They already have 21.1 million gallons of this crap. Thats about 500,000 barrels. In comparison, the Exxon Valdez had a capacity of about 1,480,000 so it's about a third of it already and god knows how much more there will be over the next year or so.

Sooner or later they're going to get rid of this crap and the sooner the better.