Rentech, Inc. has devised a plan to convert renewable waste into clean fuel and electric power. The company expects to build a plant in Rialto, Calif.

The Rialto Renewable Energy Center (Rialto Project) is designed to produce approximately 600 barrels per day of pure renewable synthetic fuels and export approximately 35 megawatts of renewable electric power that is expected to qualify under California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program, which requires utilities to increase the amount of electric power they sell from qualified renewable-energy resources.

The plant will be capable of providing enough electricity for approximately 30,000 homes. RenDieselTM, the renewable synthetic diesel to be produced at the facility, meets all applicable fuels standards, is compatible with existing engines and pipelines and burns cleanly, with emissions of particulates and other regulated pollutants significantly lower than the emissions from the combustion of CARB ultra-low sulfur diesel, according to the company.

The carbon footprint of the plant is designed to be near zero as the fuels and power would be produced only from renewable feedstocks. The low carbon footprint of RenDieselTM would help the transportation sector meet targets established by the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Executive Order 1-S-07 to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by 2020.

Rentech has entered into a licensing agreement with SilvaGas Corporation for biomass gasification technology for the Rialto facility. Between 1998 and 2001, a 400 ton-per-day plant using the SilvaGas biomass gasification technology successfully operated in Burlington, Vt., producing synthesis gas (syngas) from wood-based biomass in a series of operating campaigns.

That plant was built in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, Battelle Columbus Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Rentech’s proprietary technology for the conditioning and clean-up of syngas will provide the next critical link in the technology chain after gasification. The conditioned syngas will be converted by the Rentech Process in a commercial scale reactor to finished, ultra-clean products such as synthetic diesel and naphtha using upgrading technologies under an alliance between Rentech and UOP, a Honeywell Company.

Renewable electric power will be produced at the facility by using conventional high-efficiency gas turbine technology. The power is anticipated to be sold to local utilities under the California RPS program.

Announcing plans for the plant, D. Hunt Ramsbottom, president and CEO of Rentech, says, “The Rialto facility places Rentech at the forefront of the next generation bio-energy industry. The renewable energy conversion technology package we have secured for synthetic drop-in fuels production is ready for commercialization. Previous generation technologies for bio-fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol used valuable feedstocks that compete with food to produce fuels of varying quality. This plant will be able to transform low-value waste streams into high-value green power and pure synthetic fuels that can be used in today’s engines and distribution infrastructure.”

For more information, visit www.rentechinc.com.