The developers of a proposed $100-million hydrogen plant
in DeKalbCounty still are putting the final
pieces of the financing package together, co-founder Randy Cole said last
week.
There is no timetable yet for construction to begin on the ForeverGreen
Enterprises plant, which would produce "green hydrogen" from
industrial and other waste materials that otherwise would have to be
chemically treated or incinerated.
"The official answer is: 'as soon as possible,'" Cole said last
week.
The developers have received a financing commitment from a large New York
bank and are working to satisfy the bank's requirements. One of those is to
obtain supply agreements with distributors and customers for the hydrogen gas
the plant will produce, Cole said.
The project also has attracted the interest of the Department of Defense,
which is working with ForeverGreen to add production of an alternative diesel
fuel to the plant's manufacturing processes.
The alternative diesel would be produced from the same waste the plant takes
in to produce hydrogen, using the Fischer-Tropsch process developed by the Germans
during World War II.
"There's nothing new except the economics haven't worked before,"
Cole said.
Adding diesel to the plant's production will probably boost the plant's
initial cost. The delays in obtaining financing for the project - which
ForeverGreen had first hoped would be up and running before year's end -
probably also will raise costs because of increases in prices for
construction materials.
"To some degree, costs have gone up, but it's not a show-stopper,"
Cole said.
The company's original plan had called for a manufacturing plant near Butler and separate corporate offices, training and
technology facilities in Auburn.
Now, it is more likely everything will be located on the same campus as the
manufacturing operation, Cole said.
The specific acreage has not been identified. Cole said the company has
selected a primary location and two backup sites.
ForeverGreen also has signed a deal with PurdueUniversity
to collaborate on research, educational and commercial opportunities
associated with the manufacture of green hydrogen.
"I believe our collaboration will lead to swifter adoption of
alternative fuel strategies and transformational advancements in
environmental protection," ForeverGreen President and CEO Michael Kelly
said in a statement announcing the agreement.
ForeverGreen wants to build five to seven plants in seven years. Each would
serve markets within a diameter of 300 to 400 miles. It is more likely each
plant will contract with specific distributors than end customers, because
the distributors already have trucks, pipelines, barges and other
distribution networks in place, Cole said.
"We don't plan to be in the trucking business," he said.
ForeverGreen expects to make money on the input side, as well, by being paid
to take in waste materials that are costly to dispose of.
Market prices for hydrogen vary widely, depending on the quantity purchased,
how it is transported and whether it is sold in liquefied or pressurized
form.
Currently, the primary users of hydrogen are fertilizer and chemical
producers, steelmakers and other metal fabricators that use it in their
manufacturing process. There also is a potential future market for hydrogen
for fuel cells. That may develop more quickly than once anticipated because
of the run-up in gasoline prices over the past two years.
Cole said fuel cells initially could be used in fleet vehicles, such as
garbage trucks or delivery vans that follow defined routes every day and can
return to hydrogen fueling stations when needed. Forklifts and other
materials-handling and construction equipment also could be powered
efficiently with hydrogen fuel cells.
An extensive network of hydrogen fueling stations would have to be created
before the technology realistically could be used by passenger vehicles.
ForeverGreen plans to use a closed-loop process, known as progressive
molecular dissociation, to break down waste products. The extra heat
generated by the exothermic gasification of the raw materials will be
captured and recycled as energy to help power the plant's processes.
The plant's processes are extremely energy-intensive, but the goal is for the
plant to produce enough of its own energy, or perhaps use some of its own
hydrogen, to make it a net-zero user of electricity from the area's power
grid, Cole said.
In addition to hydrogen, the process creates: food-grade carbon dioxide,
which can be used to carbonate beverages; silicates, a glass or sand that can
be used in construction or ceramics; and pig iron.
Although the plant will have no smokestacks and no emissions, it still will
have to obtain the necessary air, water and other permits from the Indiana
Department of Environmental Management. That work could take many months, but
some of it may be accomplished while other preparations are under way, Cole
said.
The DeKalbCounty plant, expected to employ 150
people, is the only location ForeverGreen has revealed. The company is
looking at other sites in the Midwest, West and southeast United States.
The state of Indiana
has promised more than $4.5 million in economic development incentives, but
the project is not dependent on public financing or bond guarantees.
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