Municipal Solid Waste Develops From Noble Idea to Serious Player in the US Biofuels Market
Waste management companies including Waste Management Inc., Covanta, Casella and Veolia ES are in a position to look long term and strategic investments in biofuels represent a significant growth opportunity. It is an opportunity that chimes with the environmental sea change already underway. As they team up with companies such as Coskata, Enerkem and Ineos Bio, the commercial scalability of MSW to biofuels becomes reality. The DOE has already given loan guarantees to projects in waste to biofuels and with the announcement of the clean provisions in Obama’s stimulus package – hopes for further investment are high.
owever, the challenges of altering industry structures and public perception remain. Finance is also pivotal but relies heavily on the ability of projects to prove they have a long term feedstock agreement with the waste management industry; whilst support and public acceptance from state and county government is essential for swift progress and effective building timelines. These interlinked challenges require careful consideration, discussion and partnership building to be properly solved.
At the 2nd annual Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels Summit, industry leaders from across the USA are meeting to confront these challenges; Policy makers, financiers and operators are descending on Chicago to build the business relationships which are key to success. Jim Lane of Biofuels Digest will open the conference with Tim Cesarek (Waste Management Inc.), Wes Bolsen (Coskata) and Mike Schultz (lanzatech) set to address the audience on the key issues of finance, feedstock, building and operation, public policy and partnership building.
Oliver Saunders, the event director, has stressed the importance of partnerships: “Last year, we attracted a sizeable crowd to Chicago and the standard of the attendees was pivotal in helping professionals in the industry to deal with the issues that were holding them back. The need for specific expertise unique to the waste to biofuels industry has never been greater.
To find out more about the Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels summit 2012, download the event brochure here.
Or contact Oliver Saunders directly by email: [email protected] or by phone: 1800 814 3459 (ext 7185)