6. January 2009 by Mykel Pereira.

GreatPoint Energy

GreatPoint Energy
222 Third Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617.401.8760
Fax: 617.849.5691

GreatPoint Energy
222 S. Riverside Plaza
Suite 2750
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312.564.4485

Pilot Plant
Project and Operations Office
GreatPoint Energy – Brayton Point, LLC.
1547 Fall River Avenue
Building 3 – Suite #3B
Seekonk, MA 02771
774.901.5626 – Main Line
774.901.5815 – Office Administrator,
Kelly Jo, Direct Line
774.901.5814 – Fax

About
GreatPoint Energy is a technology-driven natural resources company and the developer of a proprietary, highly-efficient catalytic process, known as hydromethanation, by which coal, petroleum coke and biomass are converted directly into low-cost, clean, pipeline quality natural gas, while allowing for the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2).

GreatPoint Energy plans to build, own and operate large-scale natural gas production facilities strategically located at the intersection of natural gas pipelines and low-cost feedstock, as well as at locations where the CO2 produced and captured in its process can be geologically sequestered. The Company has identified numerous such locations and is in advanced development of its first commercial facility.

The Company’s cost of production is expected to be significantly lower than current prices of new drilled natural gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), and the natural gas it produces, called bluegas™ meets all high-grade natural gas quality specifications. It can be transported through the thousands of miles of pipelines already in place around the world and can be used interchangeably with drilled natural gas for all applications, including power generation, residential and commercial heating, and the production of chemicals.

The Company has raised $140 million to date and is backed by leading strategic investors including The Dow Chemical Company, Suncor Energy, AES Corporation, and Peabody Energy, as well as major financial institutions and venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Advanced Technology Ventures, and Citi’s Sustainable Development Investments.

Technology

Hydromethanation is an elegant and highly efficient process by which natural gas is produced through the reaction of steam and carbonaceous solids in the presence of a catalyst. The process enables the conversion of low-cost feedstock such as coal, petroleum coke and biomass (wood waste, municipal solid waste, and energy crops such as poplar and switchgrass) into clean, high-purity methane.

The chemistry of catalytic hydromethanation involves reacting steam (2H₂O) and carbon (2C) to produce methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) according to the following reaction:

The first step in the hydromethantion process is to combine the catalyst with the feedstock in such a way as to ensure that the catalyst disperses throughout the matrix of the feedstock for effective reactivity. The catalyst/feedstock material is then loaded into the hydromethanation reactor. Inside the reactor, pressurized steam is injected to “fluidize” the mixture and ensure constant contact between the catalyst and the carbon particles. In this environment, the catalyst facilitates multiple chemical reactions between the carbon and the steam on the surface of the coal or biomass. These reactions (shown below) catalyzed in a single reactor and at the same low temperature, generate a mixture predominately composed of methane and CO₂.

The overall combination of reactions is thermally neutral, requiring no addition or removal of energy, making it highly efficient.

The proprietary catalyst formulation is made up of abundantly available, low-cost metal materials specifically designed to promote gasification at the low temperatures where water gas shift and reactions concurrently take place. The catalyst is continuously recycled and reused within the process shown below.

By adding this catalyst to the system, GreatPoint Energy is able to reduce the operating temperature in the gasifier while directly promoting the reactions that yield methane. Under these mild “catalytic” conditions, less expensive reactor components can be utilized, pipeline grade methane is produced, and very low-cost carbon sources (such as lignites, sub-bituminous coals, petroleum coke and biomass) can be used as feedstock.

As part of the overall process, the bluegas™ technology enables the recovery of contaminants in coal, petroleum coke and biomass as useful byproducts. In addition, roughly half the carbon in the feedstock is removed and captured as a pure CO₂ stream suitable for sequestration.

Hydromethanation yields dramatically improved economics for the production of natural gas and an environmental footprint equivalent to that of the most environmentally-friendly commercial fuel.

Posted in Natural Gas Techs, Air Capture Techs, Massachusetts, USA | No Comments »

6. January 2009 by Mykel Pereira.

Luca Technologies Inc.

Golden Office Gillette Office

LUCA Technologies Inc. LUCA Technologies Inc.
500 Corporate Circle PO Box 7070
Suite C Gillette, WY 82717
Golden, Colorado 80401

(303) 534-4344 Phone (307) 686-9488 Phone
(303) 534-1446 Fax (307) 686-9472 Fax
(877) 445-7082 Toll Free
info@lucatechnologies.com email

About
International Energy Agency

LUCA Technologies is developing a novel, long-term, biotechnology-driven solution to rising U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources. Addressing the $150 billion domestic natural gas market, the company is leveraging the ability of naturally occurring microorganisms to convert under-utilized domestic oil, organic-rich shale and coal resources to clean, renewable energy.

The company’s business is characterized by:

* A technology platform based on the discovery, characterization and management of naturally occurring consortia of ancient, anaerobic microorganisms (those that live without oxygen) that metabolize oil, organic-rich shale and coal within the earth into natural gas, thus generating clean renewable energy in a continuous, “real time” fashion. LUCA employs genomics, molecular biology and other tools of biotechnology to detect, classify and study these organisms and the underground “Geobioreactors” in which they act. Company scientists are also developing methods of managing specific consortia’s gas production capabilities in situ for the large-scale production of natural gas and potentially, hydrogen.

* A growing library of coal seam, organic-rich shale and oil field cores from massive hydrocarbon accumulations, each with its own consortia of anaerobic microorganisms for study.

* A management team whose expertise combines a long track record of developing energy resources within the oil and gas industry with scientific expertise in molecular biology, microbiology and biochemistry and their application to renewable energy.

Domestic energy needs in the United States far outstrip today’s readily accessible energy resources, which has forced an ever-increasing dependence on foreign fuels. At the same time, existing U.S. energy resources are significantly underutilized, in part due to the inefficiencies of even the most modern extraction methods employed today. LUCA is developing methods for optimizing the natural gas-producing activity of natural Geobioreactors it identifies, as well as methods of turning other energy resources - such as oil wells that are no longer actively producing - into efficiently functioning Geobioreactors. In doing so, LUCA believes it will open the door to the creation of a new industry with the potential to solve U.S. domestic energy needs long-term, as well as provide a cost-effective, reliable and renewable source of the cleanest burning hydrocarbon fuel.

LUCA is currently working to demonstrate the viability of its technology not only in the laboratory, but also in the real world. The company initially expects to provide consulting services to existing energy producers, helping them to evaluate their current oil, organic-rich shale and gas holdings for the presence of natural Geobioreactors or the potential for Geobioreactor stimulation. LUCA will then leverage the further in situ development of its technology in partnership with those oil and gas producers, and the company may also develop specific sites and Geobioreactor production programs on its own.

Technology

LUCA Technologies has recently discovered that on-going biogenic production of methane (natural gas) is taking place today in a number of large coal fields in the United States. This methane production is the result of indigenous populations of microorganisms that, in the absence of oxygen, metabolize the large hydrocarbon molecules present in coal and oil into smaller hydrocarbons, principally methane. The company describes these naturally occurring methane factories as “Geobioreactors”.

To leverage this discovery, LUCA has undertaken a program to understand and manipulate these microorganisms in order to ultimately maximize methane production in existing Geobioreactors, and hopefully stimulate its production in currently non-reactive hydrocarbon deposits. Methane is the least polluting and most energy efficient of all the available hydrocarbon fuels. LUCA believes that, if developed and managed properly, methane-producing Geobioreactors have the potential to meet U.S. energy needs for the foreseeable future.

Posted in Wyoming, Coal Techs, Chemistry Techs, Colorado, USA | 1 Comment »