Fort Wayne, IN
Mayor Updike announces “We’re going green”.After several months of discussions, Mayor Steve Updike is improving the local environment and possibly the city’s budget shortfall with the same project.
Nature’s Fuel will locate its next Indiana plant at the Huntington landfill. The new plant will process all of the waste coming into the landfill to turn it into a renewable ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and into green electricity.
The company is a self financed, Fort Wayne based, renewable, green energy company owned by hard-working Hoosiers. Its plant operating in Atwood Indiana is the first in the US that produces green ultra-low-sulfur fuel oil, high-BTU char, and green electricity. That plant makes fuel from manufacturing scrap wood. A recent one-day test successfully ran Municipal Solid Waste in the system at Atwood with no problems.
A spokesman for the company commented, “If you saw ‘Back to the Future,’ we are sort of the ‘flux capacitor’ of recycling. We have the proven technology to process any garbage, plastics, papers, cans, rags, yard clippings, tires, and other stuff you can throw in the trash can to make fuel. Our processes capture, sequester, and recycle all metals in trash we receive. We have filed patents on our technologies that allow us to convert, sequester, and stabilize the “bad actors” in municipal solid waste (MSW) during our process. That way, little-if any-of the environmental problems (sulfur, metal oxides, chlorine, mercury, etc.) gets into our fuels or into the air. Our operation is much cleaner for a community than a landfill sitting there giving off gases, contaminating soil, and creating leachate. This is the first US commercial facility at a landfill that will produce both green electricity and renewable low-sulfur high-cetane diesel from trash and garbage using clean gasification technologies.”
As traditional landfills decay, they give off ten problematic gases and create a toxic liquid leachate, which has to be processed periodically. The Nature’s Fuel low-temperature gasification process is many times cleaner than incineration, gives off very little (if any) of the gases produced by a landfill, and does not produce a harmful residue that would need to go back into the landfill. This greatly reduces the landfill’s ongoing expenses and extends the life of the landfill indefinitely. Their patented processes leave a small percentage of residue that is sterile, stable, and can be made into renewable landscaping and building products.
The cost for this project is expected to be around forty million dollars. Nature’s fuel is not asking the city or state to put forth any public funds for financing this facility.
Mayor Updike has also secured an agreement from Nature’s Fuel to offer ultra-low-sulfur renewable diesel fuel at a discount to government and schools in Huntington County.
The company anticipates needing fifty or more employees in Huntington and gives preference to local applicants and disabled American Veterans.
For more information on Nature’s Fuel, go to their website at www.naturesfuel.net.
Very exciting REAL news about progress for the City of Huntington. It would appear the mayor has been working on REAL issues and I will be waiting anxiously for the letters and postings of support.
Good for the Mayor that he and others jumped at an opportunity that was presented to them. But don’t try and spin this like the Mayor approached Nature’s Fuel, because its obvious he didn’t.
But I give him credit for taking advantage of the opportunity, he’s seems to be good at taking advantage of things.
Just what I expected, stealth. This is REAL and important to the future of the area, not just Huntington, and you can’t stand it.
Of course this is good for the area, if it works. But why did they come to Huntington? Not because of the Mayor, Huntington is relatively close to the companies base in Fort Wayne, Huntington is on a pipeline. Huntington didn’t charge them to use its garbage. Great for the Nature’s Fuels. If Huntington can play nice and this venture works, maybe Huntington will get a couple jobs out of it. But right now, this is only a pipe dream, which is an improvement for the economy in Huntington.
This is hardly Real or Important, (similar to Obama). Believe me, I wish it was. Maybe in 15 years it will be important. But as I said before Kudos for Huntington being open to this venture business.
Nature’s Fuel has real solutions to a difficult problem. Our landfill has about 9 years or less in operational time. NF will extend this time frame indefinately. They will increase our tipping fees to the landfill as well as adding to city revenues by 1-3 million dollars per year. We of course could use the 50 new jobs. After attending the meeting I am optimistic that NF will be instrumental in bringing important new technology to the area. Management and Ownership seem sincere in having a responsible business that is truely a win-win situation for Huntington.