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Lakeside Energy and InEnTec Create New Company to Help Build a Sustainable Future for the Chemical Industry
InEnTec and Lakeside Energy today announce a new partnership to facilitate construction of commercial scale Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) gasification facilities that will convert hazardous waste and chemical residuals into useful chemical products. Under the terms of the agreement, Lakeside Energy will provide all project equity and working capital requirements for InEnTec Chemical LLC, a newly formed entity, to build its business.
Lakeside Energy is providing the equity to be used for working capital and financing of a PEM facility currently being developed for Dow Corning Corporation. According to Lakeside’s CEO, William Johnson, “We currently expect to invest up to $150 million of equity to help support the growth of InEnTec Chemical. We are enthusiastic about the business opportunities ahead.” Lakeside Energy, a Chicago-based company that invests in power generation and related renewable energy businesses, has the funding commitment to develop this exciting technology platform into a $1 billion enterprise. Lakeside Energy is backed with funding from American Securities, a New York-based private equity firm.
“Chemical process industries are recognizing the value of sustainability strategies and are seeking technologies that can minimize their environmental footprint and recover value from their waste streams that historically have been a cost burden to them,” said Johnson. “The paradigm shift from disposal of chemical wastes to their sustainable reuse as a chemical feedstock with InEnTec PEM technology represents a major breakthrough for chemical companies.”
“InEnTec LLC could not have a more committed partner than Lakeside Energy,” said Jeffrey Surma, Chief Executive Officer. “They truly understand and appreciate the unique value our PEM technology brings to the chemical industry. We look forward to working with Lakeside to make InEnTec Chemical an overwhelming success and help create hundreds of jobs around the country for this new industry.”
The first commercial PEM chemical waste conversion plant in North America for InEnTec Chemical will be located at Dow Corning’s Midland, Michigan facility. Dow Corning signed a 10-year contract with InEnTec to convert chlorinated organic residuals into aqueous hydrogen chloride (HCl) and clean synthesis gas. Both products will then be reused by Dow Corning in its Midland operations. The plant is expected to produce more than 10 million pounds per year of HCl and 11 million BTU’s per hour of syngas which is as clean as natural gas. Construction of the plant will begin in the fourth quarter of 2008. The plant will be operated for InEnTec Chemical by Veolia Environmental Services (Veolia ES) Technical Solutions, a subsidiary of Veolia Environment (NYSE:VE), one of the world’s leading providers of environmental services.
“Hazardous waste no longer has to be a problem; it can be a resource,” said InEnTec Chemical LLC President, David Farmer. “InEnTec’s PEM gasification technology has huge advantages over conventional hazardous waste disposal. It is a conversion system and not an incineration process. It utilizes a unique combination of plasma arc technology and glass melting technology to convert hazardous wastes into an ultra-clean, high-quality synthesis gas (syngas),” added Farmer.
The syngas produced at these facilities can be used for its energy value or converted into commodity products, such as hydrogen, which can serve as feedstock needed for the production of a wide variety of chemicals. These feedstocks would otherwise be derived from nonrenewable natural gas or petroleum.
The PEM™ system complies with all federal EPA and state environmental regulations. Environmental impacts are extremely low, and the system can be sited at the chemical plant, eliminating the need for hazardous material transportation and environmentally inferior disposal options.
“InEnTec’s PEM™ system has been proven effective and is fully commercial,” said Farmer.
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