US-based waste services provider Waste Management has formed a joint venture with gas generation technology developer Ventech Engineers International, energy company NRG Energy and gas-to-liquids (GTL) specialist Velocys that will produce renewable fuels and chemicals from gas and biogas.
The JV will use smaller-scale GTL technology supplied by UK-based Velocys and will source biogas managed at landfills owned by Waste Management. Waste Management subsidiary WM Organic Growth has already began using GTL, launching a demonstration facility at its East Oak landfill in Oklahoma.
Ventech, will be the engineering contractor for the JV, and will design and engineer its first facility, while Velocys will supply the Fischer-Tropsch reactor and catalyst. NRG will provide its experience as a renewable and gas-fired energy project developer.
“From developing gas recovery and cleanup techniques, to registering GTL diesel as a fuel for on-highway use, Waste Management has been a leader in this area,” said Joe Vaillancourt, vice president of corporate venturing at Waste Management. “We are pleased to take this opportunity forward with a very strong team. Velocys’ leading smaller-scale GTL technology, Ventech’s engineering capabilities, and NRG’s clean energy development expertise will complement Waste Management’s strengths in the joint venture.”
Vaillancourt told Global Corporate Venturing recently that its corporate venturing unit had helped Waste Management to reposition itself as a traditional waste management company focused on aggregation and disposal to a resource management company that incorporates cleantech into its overall product offering.