Chuck Hodges and the Optibike

Speakers

Heartland Renewable Energy – renewables-based natural gas production plants
Presented by George Howard, Managing Member

Heartland develops and delivers renewables-based natural gas ‘manufacturing plants’ which process organic waste streams in a proprietary form of anaerobic digesters. In addition to gas production, these production plants provide significant environmental benefits including greenhouse gas mitigation. This natural gas (clean methane) is transported by interstate gas pipeline to electric power plants for generating

• The Black Shield of Falworth the movie

electric power that meets the Renewable Portfolio Standard which exists in many states. Residue from the gas plants is a high quality soil amendment (“compost”) for land reclamation, agriculture, erosion control and mitigation, and other purposes.

George first set the stage for anaerobic digesters. Their goal is to create natural gas or bio-gas as a next generation digester system with advanced overall performance compared to today’s existing municipal sewage systems. The digester can take animal waste, which is typically typically manure and uses the bacteria to produce bio-gas consisting of 40% CO₂, 60% methane and trace of hydrogen sulfide. The ultimate destination is California, which needs to fulfill it’s renewable energy portfolio standard. This alternative energy is highly regarded solution in Colorado and has the potential clearing the permitting process. There a re number of customers in California waiting to purchase these type of energy resulting in a good margin of return. This approach for removing green house gases has a significant effect. Farmers previously would be disposing manure by spreading it on fields and using it as a low-grade fertilizer, creating Nitrous Oxide emissions (300x more potent Green house gas then carbon monoxide on a per pound basis). This means a digester solution goes especially far for green house credits. The digester solution is flexible for its inputs and takes a number of agricultural wastes and food waste streams.

The plants to produce the gas look like a field of Olympic-sized swimming pools with domes

Examining the bio-gas plant’s internal system, most of the methane is removed when the slurry traverses the separation sub-system. The water vapor, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are removed (and potentially resold) and the bio-gas is pressurized to 1500 psi. for interstate pipe transit. One downside is that potentially the CO2 may not be sold and will need to be released and the plant would then use a small portions of its own carbon credits for this. The plant they are building today is on 80 acres in Weld county and will produce 4700 mmBTU/day of pipeline grade quality gas or 5 mil. cubic foot/day and can support a 23-25MW electric power plant. This is equivalent to 170 natural gas wells over 30 years of operation. Unfortunately natural gas wells in old fields in Weld county have drop-off in capacity (up to 50% in a year) so this is also a factor in the number of wells needed to keep the equivalent plant running.

The plant design requires feed-in pipes to be built to the plant location. These pipes then will connect the plant to the interstate pipeline. The plant will include a water reclamation/treatment system (using desalination/reverse osmosis) to feedback water into the process.  A portion of the methane from the process is used to heat the plant. The system uses CO2 monitors to ensure the level is below 2%. The plant requires 5MW of power supplied from a rural energy co-op (at about 5.1 cents per KWh). The plant can process 1500 tons of waste a day and uses about 100,000 gal of “grey” water a day, (dirty water from an adjacent dairy farm).  In California, this methane fuel would cost 10-13 cents/KWh. Turns out anaerobic digester projects are harder for VCs to fund (since they need around 7x return in 8 years). The first Heartland plant uses project funding, which is closer to a condo/high rise building project return. George indicated they had a dutch uncle discussion earlier on financing and now are getting much better return for their project. Before the plant is operational all Colorado department of health certification must be passed.

Cool Energy – Powering a Clean Tomorrow

Presented by Sam Weaver, CEO

Cool Energy is a renewable energy equipment supplier in the growing field of distributed power systems.  Founded in 2006, the core technology under development is thermal energy conversion, and is applicable in solar power, waste heat recovery, and biomass combustion.  The initial SolarFlow^TM System product provides highly efficient solar collectors and a novel Stirling engine generator to enable a single solar system to provide 80% of the heating needs, 60% of the electricity needs, and nearly all of the hot water for a building while emitting no greenhouse gases.  Other applications include distributed geothermal and waste heat power production.

Cool Energy is based on Boulder, with 8 people on staff and a product that has 9 patents (current & pending). The core case for the cool energy system is the rising cost of home/small business costs for energy. Heating fuel costs are increasing 7.5-10% annually and electricity is seeing a 4% growth rate. An example from the customer perspective showed a 2/3 heating oil (space heat and water heat) and 1/3 electricity usage for a sample home in New Jersey. A standard PV solution only addressed the 1/3 electricity part of this bill.

The goal for cool energy systems is to cover 75% of the energy bill: 80% space heating, all the hot water and half electricity (large installation). Their system addresses areas that PV and solar thermal cannot – which is they can’t provide neither heat nor electricity. Comparatively PV can’t store energy or generate heat and solar-thermal can’t provide electricity. The Cool Energy system is managed by the control system.

The core technology is a stirling engine, that does not use combustion, needs no maintenance and can have a 20yr lifetime. The Cool Engine solution uses temperature differences (heat exchangers) to create motion (usually a piston) – it utilizes low-end temp differential with the high end at only at 250C.  Normally stirling engines go up to 650-1000C – which is more expensive to design as it needs to accommodate higher temperatures. There are evacuated tubes on the roof for solar collection, this can be used to heat-exchange water filled tubes for heat or used across the hot side of the stirling engine to generate electricity. This solution avoids 6 tones of CO2 over a year compared to conventional fossil systems.

The thermal storage is useful over cloudy days (most home heating utilize this). Typically load curves don’t match up to production curves for PV. With storage, the “cool energy” system can collect energy at peak  sun hours and then utilize the stored energy at peak demand hours. The stirling engine’s part of the design has an efficiency less than combustion fuels and less then conventional stirling engines as well but it does not get as hot and can be built from cheaper materials. Another benefits over PV systems is the Cool Energy system does not produce “semiconductor-waste” and can provide twice the return of PV .

The cost of a typical home system is 15-30K (with 30% tax credit) and with incentives, it has a 7-15 yr. payback. The convective radiator is twice as big as a car radiator and takes 50KWh/yr. to run. The controller uses the internet uses predictive weather information as well as local fuel rates to determine the appropriate energy generation. The engine operates with temperature ranges 100-200C in and 0-40C out.

Power Ecalene Fuels – Patented Thermochemical Process that Produces Mixed Alcohols (clean fuels)
Presented by Gene Jackson
Strangeland dvd

Power Ecalene Fuels, Inc possesses a unique patent pending gasification technology coupled with
patented catalyst technology that yields a low-cost, high-production and cleaner
burning fuel, Ecalene™.

Ecalene is meant to be a drop-in fuel and to replace ethanol. The name is registered, trademarked and named by Gene, he refers to it as Gene Ecalene. There are two existing patents with 10 being filed. The original feedstock was going to use beetle-kill lodge-pole pine feedstock and claims to convert one ton of wood to 186 gallons of Ecalene fuel.  The technology can take almost any type of feedstock such as Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), spent tires, coal, medical waste, municipal west and natural gas. One benefit of ecalene is that its transportation method is preferred (and much easier) when compared to transporting natural gas which needs to be liquified (before transport).

Gene helped start two alternative fuel companies, one is the well known Range Fuels in Colorado. Their process is stacks up well against the competition and recovers 85% of the energy for any fuel stock. Registered with EPA as a fuel additive, their target is to replace the ethanol additive used in today’s gasoline. Their future plants will be about 70% of the cost of a typical ethanol plant. Ethanol will not be as cost-effective as agile as ecalene, especially with with a lower feedstock energy conversion then ecalene which produces 186 g/ton. The first plant will be 100 ton/day biofuel using beetle-kill as an intial feedstock – this output is around 4 tanker truck equivalents. The long term expectation is to put one ecalene plant in every municipality. The dynamic aspect of ecalene system has allowed it to co-locate with aglae production, utilizing a CO₂ and oxygen exchange between the two plants. Beyond the additive, Ecalane can be a standalone fuel for cars or be produced in biodiesel or jet-fuel.

The by-product of the ecalene product is ash which can be used for roadbed or other applications. The plants can be “fuel-agile” and support multiple feedstocks if it is designed for that purpose. The plant should be energy neutral, with the gasafier and endothermic/exothermic processes balancing each other out.

Optibike – 1000 mpg and have fun too !!Demo bike at the Meetup!!
Presented by Jim Turner, President and Chuck Hodges, CFO

Optibike builds the highest performance electric bikes in the world today, and seeks to firmly establish its premium brand as the Ferrari of electric bikes.  Optibike enables its customers to lose up to 20 lbs a year; reduce their risk of heart disease and diabetes by 30%; save $1000 a year; reduce their carbon emissions a metric ton per year; reduce their gasoline consumption by 325 gallons per year; and have fun.  All in no extra time.

The start of the presentation is a video of a dallas cowboy player, DeMarcus Ware, doing a testimonial for Optibike. DeMarcus and his wife use the bike extensive.  Optibike is designed to be rugged and easy to use. There were some humorous parts where DeMarcus talks about riding the bike all the time and wanting to make it go 50-65mph.

Optibike was founded in 1999 and their bikes are designed and made in Boulder. The company is already at profitable and growing. The core product markets to improving weight/health, fossil fuel depletion and climate change. Jim asked the meetup group questions on bike usage and was impressed with the response of a number of people riding over 40mi/week (although a good response from a  green conscience crowd). One of the reason, Jim pointed out, that people don’t ride their bikes is that it does not go fast enough or it goes slower then a car. The argument is that we could ride a motorbike but would miss out on the health element. An electric bike would assist us up steeper hills or in the foothills around Boulder, while still allowing the rider to pedal like on a “regular” bike when feasible. Another testimonial indicated that a car commute of 40-50 min is  just over 1 hr. for an Optibike ride.  The  mileage figure for an Optibike ride is the equivalent of 1000 mpg. It uses less then a 1KWh and has a range of 40 miles,. Energy return then is better then a solar/PV installation.

Around the world e-bikes are growing significantly. In Europe 700K units have been sold and in China aroudn 20 mill. units have sold and trailing but growing US growth (around 75K units/year) is growing at 40%. The overall market today is around 1-2 Billion. Opti-bike holds the title for the most expensive e-bike in the world, with one of their limited-edition bike. Optibike builds what they consider the best premium quality e-bike on the market. There are 6 bike models in their product line. The earliest bike cost 5K. There are a number of patent designs around the design and they have years of production experience.

As for performance, single charge lasts for 40 miles and takes 8 hrs to charge (costing around 10 cents). The battery has a 3 yr./30k warranty. The replacement cost of the battery is 1500 dollars. The bike is aluminum frame and weighs 55 pounds. There is no regenerative breaking, as it did not make sense for the bike since it is mostly coasting. Right now the cost is on the high end since they are a boutique shop, but it also has significant quality related to gearing and electronics that make it easier to use then its competitors. The electric system works in parallel with pedaling. You pedal-only, use electric drive or a hybrid mode that employs both. A recent article in national geographic featured the e-bike trend that highlight the Optibike. There is a cardio-monitor design upcoming in future products as well as more advances in designs allows for software to control electronic shifting and other functions.

Thanks everyone for another great Green-Tech meetup!

This month we had 50 people attend and the energy, speakers and food was great. Thanks to our sponsors (Access Venture Partners and Sequel Venture Partners) we were able to provide some nice food and drinks for our networking session.

News

Assorted companies in Greater Denver/Boulder were active again this month. Broomfield-based Range Biofuels landed another 100 Million in investment that will be used to complete a cellulosic ethanol plant. Renewable Energy Systems (RES), a renewable wind company, has relocated from Texas to Broomfield bringing 70 jobs.

The company said it decided to move because metro Denver’s “business and political atmosphere … is supportive of renewable efforts” and the area has “a high standard of living.

Another Boulder based smart-grid/energy management system Tendril has landed another round of funding to the tune of 12 million. Also this month, it seems the California biofuels company “Gevo” has relocated their headquarters to Englewood, Colorado . Gevo gained some notoriety when “ecopreneur” and clean-tech angel, Sir Richard Branson invested in this company and is part of the “Virgin Green Fund”.

Caltech biofuels spinout Gevo is apparently tired of grappling with regulations and how long it takes to build pilot facilities, and thinks it can move faster in Colorado.

CommuniKey

Our first presentation informed attendees on the Communikey “exploring sustainability for creative arts”. This festival has been around since 2004 and attracts artists from all over the world to explore sustainability, carbon footprints, and human powered electronics. Communikey organizers were looking forward to the opportunity of teaching on the use of reclaimed materials. If one is daring enough to give full creative control to Communikey artists, they will take old clothes and demonstrate reuse of a now modernly styled outfit. Many other demonstrations on reclamation of materials will satisfy the most whole-hearted freegan!

Len Bloch – Algae Based Fuels

Len Bloch, a high/middle school teacher and former algae-oil entrepreneur gave a very compelling description on what algae oil is, the process of making it, and what some of the challenges are. Len has written a children’s book on the topic of Alternative Energy. One of the redeeming qualities of algae is that they don’t need fresh water or soil (and won’t divert these resources from food production ). Current Biodiesel needs oil from sources such as soy, conola or palm oil. Algae systems can be created in open systems (such as ponds) but there are a number of challenges controlling this environment. His experience included working with closed systems employing smaller water barrels and plastic coverings. Research is ongoing but it seem Blue-Green Algae produce fuel the fastest, with diatoms producing the highest oil content. Algae based fuels can work in home heating scenarios whereas biodiesel can not.

Len also thought there was opportunity to fund algae-based fuel R&D with another algae-oil based product, health care supplements, which provide vegetarian marine oils. He left us with some last notes that “agriculture” was one of the greatest revolutions, through beer, cheese and other preservation methods our ancestors domesticated microbes, and that biofuels would constitute “completing” this revolution.

Sam Weaver – Cool Energy Inc.

Sam introduced his water-heating/electricity producing hybrid solution to “harvest” the sun. When a rainy-overcast country such as Germany can extract solar energy – the other sun-rich districts in the world can easily do this as well. The sun in some of our states (Colorado being one) are as good as some of the best solar areas such as Australia and the Sahara Desert. From studies across United States, their is a different split between heating/cooling , but overall “heating” is the more dominant energy user.

The product is a combined heat/power system that comes from evacuated, water-mineral filled tubes that are heated on the roof (or another platform). With a mineral oil based system to avoid winter freezing, the tubes are sent into the house (e.g. basement) to be converted to heat in the winter, or electricity in the summer (or some combination). This combination is determined by an energy management system to optimize the use of solar energy. This system uses a Sterling Engine to produce electricity from the heated liquid and the heated liquid can be stored also be for a period . The Stirling Engine’s efficiency is less than combustion fuels but it does not get as hot and can be built from cheaper materials. The system does not produce “semiconductor-waste” and can provide twice the return as PV systems.

Peter Novak – Sunflower Daylighting Systems

Perter Novak introduced his product as “Sundelier” – “the chandelier that delivers sun” . This company is a pre-revenue startup. The main product allows for sun to be channeled through a hole/channel into the interior of a building. Additionally this system can be worked as a hybrid solution using traditional lights to provide the desired lighting effect. With the benefit of a small hole profile for the sunlight source, the sunlight is bent to follow the channel into the destination floor/area.

Overall benefits are health and productivity gains in workers from natural sunlight as well as reduced energy consumption. The system can include a sun tracking system to maximize sun input into the lighting system. With LEEDs based building constructions standards, these natural lightning systems are highly desirable and sales growth is very healthy.

George Howard – Heartland Renewable Energy

George got right into the science and value proposition of his “anaerobic digester” system. This company is based on a franchising model to help build plants and do technology transfer of their ‘digester factory” design. The digester uses microbes and needs solids (a biodegradable waste-food) to operate. With animal waste – methane can be produced and used as energy. They can build a plant in 6 months, and using “pools” and up to 200 wells – the plant can process 5 million cubic ft. per day.

The end result produced by this plant is natural pipeline quality methane gas. With Natural Gas increasing in price the energy return on investment is increasing. Along with the sale of the gas, other revenue streams include the sale of carbon credits and sale of the final solid residue as fertilizer. Although there still is CO2 generated in process, this can be mitigated by potentially co-locating a greenhouse operation near the plant.

I would like to thank all our great speakers this month!

Kevin Geminiuc