Sierra Energy is a privately owned waste-to-energy

gasification Gasification is a process that converts biomass- or fossil fuel-based carbonaceous materials into gases, including as the largest fractions: nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (). This is achieved by reacting ...

company. The company claims that its FastOx gasification technology can take virtually any trash and turn it into clean energy, without burning. Sierra Energy is a division of Sierra Railroad. It is headquartered at the Sierra Energy Research Park in Davis, California and its commercial facility is located in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

.,https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/10/08/sierra-energy-lands-federal-grant-from-defense.html

History

FastOx gasification was developed by two Kaiser Steel engineers, Bruce Claflin and John Jasbinsek, that was originally designed to reduce pollution during steel production. When Kaiser closed their Fontana plant in 1983, workers tossed all demolition material into the blast furnace. Claflin and Jasbinsek realized that the furnace could take garbage as well. Claflin’s grandson, Chris Kasten, pitched the idea at the University of California, Davis' Graduate School of Management's 2003 Big Bang! Business Competition. The concept caught the eye of Mike G. Hart, a local railroad company CEO and a judge at the competition. After securing rights to the technology, Hart founded Sierra Energy, a division of Sierra Railroad, in 2004 to use this technology to create clean fuel for his fleet of locomotives. In 2009, the technology was selected for construction and testing at the U.S. Army’s Renewable Energy Testing Center at McClellan Business Park, an independent testing facility funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). In 2013, the DoD, aided by grant funding from the California Energy Commission, entered into an agreement with Sierra Energy for the construction of Sierra's first commercial FastOx gasifier at U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett in

. The system was the first waste-to-energy technology acquired by the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

. In 2015, Sierra was awarded a $100,000 federal grant from the Defense Logistics Agency to test production of hydrogen from municipal waste., In 2016, Sierra received an unconfirmed investment from SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners for which SteelRiver would receive a minority interest in Sierra Energy’s holding company, Sierra Railroad.https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2016/06/15/davis-company-raises-financing-round.html Sierra’s 20 metric ton per day gasifier at Fort Hunter Liggett was built in 2017 and will be testing multiple product outputs including electricity and renewable diesel.https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/cathie-anderson/article140399088.html In 2019, Sierra closed a $33 million Series A investment round led by

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

Breakthrough Energy Ventures Breakthrough Energy is the umbrella name of several organizations, founded by Bill Gates in 2015, that aim to accelerate innovation in sustainable energy and in other technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It invests in a variety of st ...

Technology: FastOx gasification

The Sierra Energy FastOx gasifier is a type of

gasifier Gasification is a process that converts biomass- or fossil fuel-based carbonaceous materials into gases, including as the largest fractions: nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (). This is achieved by reacting ...

developed from a modified

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

, that the company claims is capable of accepting nearly any type of waste and converting it into liquid fuels or electricity via an intermediate gas, synthesis gas. However, instead of using air as traditional

blast furnaces A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric p ...

or gasifier do, FastOx gasification injects oxygen and steam instead, resulting in extremely high temperatures (2000 °C) that drive the chemical reaction to break down waste without producing ash or other contaminants that need to be landfilled. Organic material is converted into an energy dense syngas and inorganic material is recovered as either a non-leaching stone or molten metal. The system is modular, which can be scaled to a large size and has the ability to make a significant impact in lowering global greenhouse gases.

Commercial systems

Sierra's first commercial facility was built in partnership with the U.S. Army and the California Energy Commission at Fort Hunter Liggett. This waste

system began testing in January 2020 to convert biomass and municipal solid waste to electricity and diesel. The company is currently working on developing their flagship Pathfinder system which can handle up to 50-metric-tons of waste per day.

Awards and recognition

* 2011: Top 200 GoingGreen Global Company, AlwaysOn * 2012 Globie Award - Most Innovative New Product, CleanTech Environmental * 2012: Top 150 Companies in Bioenergy, Biofuels Digest * 2012: Grant Award from Department of Defense, $3MM * 2013: Grant Award from California Energy Commission, $5MM * 2014: Defense Energy Technology Challenge award, Defense Energy Summit and Innovation Showcase * 2014 – 40 Hottest Smaller Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy, Biofuels Digest * 2015- Grant Award from Defense Logistics Agency, $100K * 2016 – Environmental Recognition Award, City of Davis * 2016 - Sacramento Region Innovation Award – First Place Sustainability, Sacramento Business Journal * 2017 - Roddenberry Innovation award, Roddenberry Foundation * 2018: 40 Hottest Emerging Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy * 2018: Biofuels Digest Hottest 50 Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy * 2020: Biofuels Digest Hottest 50 Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy * 2020: Solar Impulse Foundation label

External links

Official website

References

{{Reflist Waste management companies of the United States Renewable energy companies of the United States Companies based in California