Saratoga Energy

Graphene Energy, founded in December 2008, hopes to make ultracapacitors out of graphene, sheets of pure, crystalline carbon. It is the brain child of Rod Ruoff, a professor at the University of Texas, and Xin Zhao. Some believe that ultracapacitors, which store energy and can potentially charge far faster than batteries, could charge electric car batteries while the cars tool down the road or replace batteries entirely.

ThermoChem Recovery International markets a gasification technology that aims to transform the pulp and paper industry into biorefineries which will not only produce paper, but also renewable energy in the form of green electric power and bio-based fuels and chemicals. TRI's gasification process converts cellulosic feedstocks (including wood chips, bark, forest residuals, agricultural waste and energy crops) into a synthesis gas ("syngas") which can be used to replace natural gas and fuel oil, and can be converted into biofuels and biochemicals. Additionally, per the company, TRI's technology is capable of recovering energy and chemicals from spent pulping liquors. TRI licenses its gasification technology, and aims to provide specialized equipment and engineering services to pulp and paper companies seeking to integrate TRI's process into their mill operations. TRI's proven technology currently is in commercial use at two mills in the U.S. and Canada.

Renewable Oil International is a Florence, AL based company that has received a grant(s) from the Department of Energy's SBIR/STTR program. The abstract(s) for these grant award(s) are provided as well since they provide insights into Renewable Oil International's business and areas of expertise. The project will produce liquid biofuels from wood biomass resources by fast pyrolysis followed by upgrading of the pyrolysis oils. This research will be a key step towards ending global warming, improving national security, and improving rural economies by reducing our dependence on petroleum feedstocks. Declining petroleum resources, combined with increased demand for petroleum by emerging economies, as well as political and environmental concerns about fossil fuels, are causing our society to search for new sources of liquid fuels. This project will develop a method for conversion of biomass into liquid fuels at a small scale called fast pyrolysis—a process whereby biomass is rapidly converted into a liquid biocrude which can be used for fuel oil or upgraded into gasoline and diesel fuels.

EnerTech Environmental is a renewable energy company focused on the development and commercialization of clean combustion technologies for biosolids (sewage sludge) and other organic wastes. EnerTech's patented SlurryCarb process aims to cleanly and economically converts high-moisture wastes into a high-grade renewable fuel, with significant cost savings over alternative options. Biosolids and other feedstocks undergo a molecular rearrangement that transforms these high-moisture materials into a renewable fuel suitable for the replacement of fossil fuels. By processing biosolids as a fluid, the technology aims to provide savings in both capital and operating costs. The resulting fuel, called E-Fuel, is a clean, renewable fuel that is an excellent replacement for fossil fuels. As a renewable fuel, E-Fuel produces essentially zero net greenhouse gas emissions.

Bodega Algae, LLC, (Bodega) is a developer of scalable algae photobioreactors. The closed continuous-flow reactors produce high-energy algal biomass for use in the production of biofuel. nnThe Bodega photobioreactor is modular and stackable, allowing it to be co-located efficiently on the premises of industrial plants. The reactor uses nutrients readily drawn from a variety of waste streams. Sources for nutrients include wastewater from domestic sewage, municipal water treatment plants or carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) flue gases from industrial plants. The microalgae in the bioreactor converts these compounds to biomass, creating the feedstock for biofuel while improving the environment. nnMicroalgae has advantages when compared to conventional oil crop feedstocks. Algae produces over twenty times the amount of biofuel than soybeans on an equal amount of land due to rapid growth rates and high concentrations of lipids per cell density. In contrast to soybeans and other oil crops, the modest agricultural and resource requirements of microalgae make it an attractive low-cost alternative feedstock. Estimates indicate that algae grown in large volumes could reduce the cost of manufacturing a gallon of biodiesel by half of current rates. Lower costs and greater energy yield will make biofuels economically competitive with petro-fuels. n

Benefuel is a biodiesel process technology and production company with exclusive, patented global rights to next-generation technology for manufacturing biodiesel and bio-lubricants. Benefuel's ENSEL process produces biodiesel at a substantially lower cost than conventional methods by using lower cost, high free fatty acid feedstocks and converting them efficiently into biodiesel and glycerin.