Little ole' New Milford on the global map. A solution to our dependence on foreign oil. A boon to the local and national economies. Jobs for New Milford and so much more. This is certainly the most significant and timely project that I have seen in this Town and it may ultimately be one of the most important projects that many of us will experience in our lifetimes -- up front and personal -- with significance for generations!
The Mayor announced at tonight's Town Council Meeting that an entity named American Energy Enterprises in Brookfield has offered $4,500,000 for the Brass Mill. That alone is significant but the kicker is that it intends to build a $100,000,000 facility that makes ethanol from biomass materials -- green waste -- not from food crops such as corn.
The project has obviously been in the works for a while and it appears that a lot of groundwork has already been done by Mayor Murphy and various Town agencies. Although the State DEP and Fed EPA have clearly been hands-on, no permits have yet been issued for this green-waste to ethanol plant. I have no doubt that the Governor has an eye on the project and you can bet that the big oil boys do, too. "As soon as the big companies like Exxon see us coming, they're going to start to kick us," said AEE's Chairman, Christopher H. Brown, an affable, down-to-earth entrepreneur who lives in Brookfield who presented the proposal. With him were many of his associates, all of whom live in the area. Some, I believe, in New Milford.
Simply, the process uses any cellulose-based materials such as wood and leaves, anything that can be broken down to its carbon base, to make ethanol. Ethanol is then blended at a "gas" station to fuel your car using E85, a product that is 85% ethanol.
The enzyme process produces no odor, no noise, no water pollution, no air pollution. The small amount of water that is used is treated and is put into the sewer system cleaner than when it went into the plant. Here are some other highlights:
1) it has already raised $75,000,000 of the $100,000,000 estimated cost of the project without any of the many government grants that are available;
2) the waste materials are fertilizer, liquid gypsum used for the manufacture of drywall, liquid carbon dioxide, lignan which is separated from the sugar in the green waste and furferol, a byproduct of the breaking down of cellulosic materials. These are readily marketable commodities;
3) If spilled, ethanol evaporates and thus doesn't get into the ground water;
4) the plant will generate between 5 to 7 Megawatts of clean and green electricity -- enough to run New Milford and areas south --that will be put back into the grid as KC is doing and the Company is willing to make a deal with the Town to buy its needs at a discount;
5) it will produce about 200 jobs, with preferences given to area residents. Three to five engineers, 20 lab techs, 40 to 50 person labor force, security personnel, railroad engineers, truck drivers and sales reps. It will operate 24/7 with 3 shifts;
6) it is self-sustaining. Once up and running, it will not need any energy to keep running;
7) the plant will have its own safety and fire-fighting equipment and the Company will train local fire personnel in the correct procedures for handling emergencies; and
8) the project will need between 200,000 and 500,000 tons of wood and plant materials per year and this will include properly sorted waste demolition materials. [ed. note: thanks to Mark, I corrected these numbers]
The Council authorized the Mayor to move ahead with negotiations. It also authorized her to bring some consultants for the Council to interview.
Councilman Walter Bayer said it all. "I don't see anything wrong with us being a beacon for this type of project...I don't want AEE to be chased away." Bravo!
"This is going to change the future," said Mr. Brown and I agree. New Milford can play a role in ending our dependence on foreign oil and it can be the envy of the world. What a wonderful idea. I hope the Members of the Council have the wisdom and foresight to embrace it.
Monday, March 10, 2008
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30 comments:
This sounds like a great thing. Lets hope the mayor and her cronies don't screw this up!
Does anonymous realize that it was the MAYOR and her cronies that brought this forward! I think this is a great plan for the Town. The Mayor did a great job bringing this forward, and I hope the Town moves forward and welcomes this with open arms. I agree with Walt Bayer "Bravo"! Lets keep politics out of this and work as a team and move this forward quickly!
Jay wrote:
"8) the project will need between 200 and 500 tons of wood and plant materials per year and this will include properly sorted waste demolition materials."
This can not be correct. Is it a typo?
Mark
Thank you, Mark, for noticing my error. I made the correction with credit to you.
Can I ask you people to list the Mayor's cronies? Must we turn everything into the same old I hate the mayor issue?
Why can you not look at the facts, this as a great opportunity that has been brought to a lazy, lame council. Hopefully they will leave politics and personal feelings out of it and for once do the business of the town in a timely manner.
This sounds like an enviro-version of "The Music Man" where the scam is to convince scientifically-challenged environmentalists that "green energy" can not only be produced from yard waste (biomass materials), but that this energy will also positively benefit the environment in every single way! If it sound too good to be true, it probably is...
Let's wait and see how much federal, state and local politicians willingly fork-over for this dubious business dealing.
The science to this is factual, the fact this is a private company is encouraging because it is incented to close and operate versus thinking about it/or being caught up in the bureacracies of such an endeavor...there must be many possible locations for this business, New Milford is lucky to have them wanting to come here, I just hope they were not disapointed or will be if the Town delays on this. Bringing new jobs, clean processing, and new fuel is a huge benefit, add in the fact this will bring regional and national positive attention to the town is even more of a benefit. I cannot wait to see this become successful, will they be selling the ethanol in New Milford? Can you imagine - New Milford wood, processed in New Milford into ethanol and then powering New Milford vehicles cleaner and cheaper...Mr. Bayer I agree, Bravo!
Jay - wind power, solar power, geothermal are better environmentally.
Can we get free electricity for the decrease in property values?
Can we make them buy the nearby homes?
Is this the most appropriate place for the ambulance barn, since this could become the most flammable building in town?
What roads will the trucks use?
I'm sure town council was dazzled by the impressive presentation and forgot to ask those questions.
To my point,
isn't this the same council people that listened about why there shouldn't be a natural gas terminal on LI sound? If the terminal blew up would we hear it? We're worried about low flying jets, but okay with 100+ trucks a day to the roads and more trains?
Why don't we put it next to one of the schools? Didn't we not want Sempra?...
I'm confused why we're okay with Medinstill but not the smell of potatoes.
Why we're not okay with burning garbage, but okay making flammable chemicals that are transported on our roads or by train out of fertilizer and construction waste? And fertilizer and construction waste being shipped to town?
How about a corporate headquarters?
How about a office building?
Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban and suburban atheists. Just look at the religious zeal in their beliefs: There's an "Eden" (an earthly paradise untouched by modern man); a fall from grace (into a state of pollution); a judgment day where (energy) sinners are doomed to die unless they seek salvation (a.k.a. sustainability)...
This plant will be a multi-million temple to environmentalism. As such, it should be entitled to the same tax exemptions as other religions.
I fail to see the downside of this enterprise.
Are they not already operating in Brookfield off of Vail Road?
No issues with that current operation that I am aware of.
to all the nay-sayers out there....
go to a different blog somewhere else
"to all the nay-sayers out there.... go to a different blog somewhere else"
I agree. Blaspheming naysayers, who don't believe environmental catastrophe is imminent, shouldn't be allowed to post here.
What we really need is an inquisition to forcibly convert the ecological non-believers
Anonymous at 12;28 sure asked a lot of questions!
Jay - wind power, solar power, geothermal are better environmentally. Yes. True. But they also don't put much electricity back in the grid and have the potential to contribute so mightily to our energy independence.
Can we get free electricity for the decrease in property values? In a way, yes. The taxpayers will pay less for the electricity Town government uses.
Can we make them buy the nearby homes? There aren't many and we can't make them. But we can negotiate and ask!
Is this the most appropriate place for the ambulance barn, since this could become the most flammable building in town? The Mayor said last night that this has been considered and the answer is yes. There will be many safeguards in place.
What roads will the trucks use? Believe it or not, there is talk of new roads at their expense and a new bridge!
I'm sure town council was dazzled by the impressive presentation and forgot to ask those questions. Actually, I was impressed by some of the questions. It's almost as if some of them had been coached by someone experienced.
To my point,
isn't this the same council people that listened about why there shouldn't be a natural gas terminal on LI sound? If the terminal blew up would we hear it? We're worried about low flying jets, but okay with 100+ trucks a day to the roads and more trains? More trains and trucks yes but AT OFF PEAK HOURS.
Why don't we put it next to one of the schools? Didn't we not want Sempra?...
I'm confused why we're okay with Medinstill but not the smell of potatoes.
Why we're not okay with burning garbage, but okay making flammable chemicals that are transported on our roads or by train out of fertilizer and construction waste? And fertilizer and construction waste being shipped to town? No, no fertilizer is being brought in. And BTW, you pass trucks every day that carry a lot more noxious stuff than this.
How about a corporate headquarters?
This willbe their corporate HQ. How about a office building? They said that they will not be expanding the footprint by much, if at all.
Word on the street is that Bob Gundelsberger is afraid of toxins from this plant.What kind of toxins is he referring to? Many states use green products already, these type of alternatives are forward thinking.
Good thing are Town Council wasn't around when the automobile was invented. We would still be on horseback! Heaven forbid New Milford could actually think into the future.Lets hope that common sense will prevail.
anonymous said
Can I ask you people to list the Mayor's cronies? Must we turn everything into the same old I hate the mayor issue?
Why can you not look at the facts, this as a great opportunity that has been brought to a lazy, lame council. Hopefully they will leave politics and personal feelings out of it and for once do the business of the town in a timely manner.
March 11, 2008 10:44 AM
My post was the first one, you answered your own question and the point of my post. The town council needs to stay on top of this and not let it get away. New Milford needs this.
I've been a member of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) for years...
http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php
E85 fuel will not get you better gas mileage, but it will ultimately put a huge dent in our dependence on foreign oil and it is usually much less expensive to buy than Regular, Mid and Premium grades of gasoline...
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
Producing E85 here in the states will also create thousands of sorely needed new jobs on the U.S. mainland.
I say go for it... Aye!
Jay wrote:
"8) the project will need between 200,000 and 500,000 tons of wood and plant materials per year and this will include properly sorted waste demolition materials. [ed. note: thanks to Mark, I corrected these numbers]'
This proposal simply doesn't make any sense. The six cellulosic ethanol plants funded by the DOE last year all proposed to use some form of agricultural waste as the primary source of the plant materials. Wood waste (chips and sawdust) is a valuable commodity in short supply these days. I doubt that they will be available in significant enough quantities, and at reasonable enough cost, in the Northeast region, to feed this plant. Perhaps in Maine. And, 100's of millions of pounds of demolition waste being available is another "pie in the sky" idea. I fear you all are being jerked around by this proposal. Good luck, but don't hold your breath.
Mark
It doesn't matter if the proposal makes any sense....the market will dictate its success.
If it was a silly proposal, the owner would not have the level of investors he now enjoys.
keene keened:
"It doesn't matter if the proposal makes any sense....the market will dictate its success.
If it was a silly proposal, the owner would not have the level of investors he now enjoys."
It's a scam, can't you see that.
They don't have a source for the raw materials.
As far as "claimed" investors, show me the cash.
You do realize, that even with gov't grants, not one project like this has been built and the switch flipped to on.
Mark
How can you make such bold comments about what they have and do not have when you clearly do not know? You base all your commments off of one write up and nothing more. The plan is very solid and perhaps most of the thoughts here are simply opinions - everyone has that right. Perhaps more information is forthcoming, no one makes an offer for something like this without first researching this in great detail. A $100,000,000 business is not going to invest here if they do not know it will work and that the supply is available. Clearly this was not just dreamed up over night and I cannot understand how you say it is a "scam"? What is the scam? Who is being scammed? They are PAYING $4,500,000 for a contminated location that still will need to be cleaned up and overhauled...has anyone even been in that old place, just look at it from the outside, what an eyesore...it is a blessing to get them to take it...we are lucky. It just seems more information is needed before people jump to all these conclusions, I say work with this group - don't chase them away! Give them a chaance to educate us more.
Anon #21 wrote:
"How can you make such bold comments about what they have and do not have when you clearly do not know? You base all your commments off of one write up and nothing more. The plan is very solid"
Solid plan?? One write up??
According to Frank Dottori, managing director of cellulosic ethanol for Greenfield Ethanol and former CEO of forest products giant Tembec:
"There are horrendous complex challenges in front of us and they are not slam dunks, otherwise everybody would have done it," he said. "With oil at $100 a barrel, if it was all solved these [cellulosic ethanol plants] would be popping up like weeds."
Well, they are not popping up like weeds. The first plant is to be built in Georgia, at an estimated cost of 375 million dollars which includes massive federal and state grants.
Mark
America and the world definitely need cost-effective alternatives to oil, but the politically motivated, pork-laden "Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007" puts too much importance (and tax dollars) on Ethanol. Think about it, when deceitful politicians unilaterally declare ethanol the solution to our energy problems and offer huge subsidies and tax incentives to encourage its production, there HAS to be something amiss!
I agree that this Cellulostic Ethanol plant sounds like a government-subsidized scam on dim-witted environmentalists and politicians.
Although the science may be factual, what is the "net energy" of Cellulosic Ethanol production?
Since the creation of Cellulosic Ethanol has barely left the laboratory research stage, my guess is that more energy is used to grow, transport and process the raw material into ethanol than is currently contained in the ethanol itself (i.e. it probably costs more than a dollar to produce a dollar's worth Cellulosic Ethanol). That may be one reason for the generous government subsidies and tax breaks to encourage Cellulosic Ethanol production. Of course, the main reason is that politicians have huge personal financial stakes in Ethanol production...
Wow, where is this company asking for anything other than to buy the Brass Mill, comments here are really jumping way out there in assumptions based on unfounded guessing. There are dozens of companies all researching and racing to build these new technology plants, someone has to do it, why not this company? Many others will do it all over the country eventually. They have not asked for or taken any federal or state grants for this, it is all private investment. All they asked was to buy the Brass Mill, at a better than fair market value, bring new jobs (200+) to the area, and are privately investing the money to produce ethanol all with good intentions - I cannot believe anyone would want to just buy the Brass Mill on a whim, it seems to me they have done their homework and this will be a great opportunity not only for New Milford, but the people, environment, and additional revenues this will bring to our area. E85/ethanol is a big deal, soon we can be using it here too...that is great news!
Firm Is Seeking New Milford Site To Make Ethanol
By: Nancy Barnes/Litchfield County Times
NEW MILFORD-With the price of gasoline in Northern California already at $4 a gallon and steeper gasoline prices expected to head East, a Brookfield-based firm has offered the town of New Milford $4.5 million to buy the Century Enterprise Center, the site of a former brass mill, and use it for a venture that would produce an alternative fuel.
American Energy Enterprises Inc. (AEE) chairman Christopher Brown spelled out the offer at a Town Council meeting Monday, as the former New Milford resident, who now lives in Brookfield, said his company would use the site to produce cellulosic ethanol or a type of fuel that comes from the structural material of plants.
"It's definitely a race to see who's going to be the first," said Marc R. Angarano, president of American Recycled Energy Inc., an American Enterprise Co., who also attended the meeting, of the effort to commercially produce a cellulosic ethanol product in this country. He said the company was looking to be the first commercial ethanol manufacturer in the United States but, if not, wanted to be the first to produce the biofuel in New England.
No commercial plants producing the cellulosic biofuel presently exist in the United States, according to Mr. Brown, although there are demonstration projects that use the process.
The technology of a California-based firm called BlueFire has been incorporated into a cellulosic ethanol plant in Izumi, Japan, with BioEthanol, a second plant in Japan, also having begun production of cellulosic ethanol.
The Louisiana-based Verenium Corp., which is developing biofuel technology, received a $33.8 million grant from the federal government Feb. 27 to develop improved systems for use in the conversion of biomass, which includes products such as leaves and wood chips, into the ethanol product.
The distillery used to produce the biofuel product in New Milford would, according to Mr. Brown, eventually generate 200 jobs.
Councilman Walter Bayer urged his fellow councilmen not to get what he termed a case of the "slows" with regard to authorizing Mayor Pat Murphy to proceed with developing points of negotiation with AEE concerning purchase of the mill site, as well as the 300,000- square-foot building on it and also the cleanup the Brownfield's revitalization site still requires. Mr. Brown said AEE was willing to help with the cleanup but not take over the project entirely.
Mayor Murphy would bring the results of her negotiation back to the Town Council, according to the authorization.
"I'm for it," Mr. Bayer said.
"It's become a millstone around our neck," said Town Councilman Raymond O'Brien of the brass mill site. "I have no objection to moving ahead," he said of authorizing the mayor to proceed with negotiations.
Mr. Brown noted that AEE had received offers to locate its distillery elsewhere, most notably in Lebanon, but that he wanted to locate the plant in New Milford, which he described as "large enough to grow us and small enough to know us."
He said AEE expected to rely overwhelmingly on rail service to bring biomass in and transport its finished products out and would use minimal truck service only in off-peak hours, thus decreasing the impact of any noise.
Mr. Brown cautioned that in competing with other companies to develop a non-crude oil-based fuel, there was some urgency in his offer. He said that once AEE had secured a site he expected a distillery to be operant within 12 to 18 months.
New England, he pointed out, creates more than one billion tons each year in biomass waste, much of which could be used to produce cellulosic ethanol.
Mr. Brown said that, to date, AEE had raised $75 million of the monies necessary to go into production, which, according to the chairman, would produce a fuel that could sell for between $1 and $2 per gallon.
In addition to cellulosic ethanol, Mr. Brown, said the distillery, which he described as zero waste and zero pollution-with only steam expected in release, which could generate five to seven megawatts of electricity. Byproducts of the alternative fuel production would include gypsum, he said.
"It sounds pretty good to me," said Mayor Pat Murphy, while acknowledging the project still required a number of governmental permits.
"Just being in New England and Connecticut alone-the biomass that surrounds us is amazing," Mr. Angarano said. He affirmed that ethanol produced from starch or corn-touted, until recently, as the substitute for petroleum-was not as environmentally-friendly as cellulosic ethanol, with the resulting unavailability of corn for human and animal consumption also a large detriment to its use.
The council, with John Lillis and Robert Guendelsberger abstaining, voted to authorize the mayor to proceed with negotiation points on a contract.
Later, by unanimous vote, the council authorized the mayor to check into the names of consultants to advise the town on the biofuel venture.
Should AEE eventually take root in the town, New Milford would, over a short period of time, gain a second cutting-edge organization, with MEDInstill, the pioneering asceptic technology firm, having agreed to locate permanently in the town last year.
©Litchfield County Times 2008
Litchfiels Times wrote:
"American Energy Enterprises Inc. (AEE) chairman Christopher Brown spelled out the offer at a Town Council meeting Monday, as the former New Milford resident, who now lives in Brookfield, said his company would use the site to produce cellulosic ethanol or a type of fuel that comes from the structural material of plants.
"It's definitely a race to see who's going to be the first," said Marc R. Angarano"
A 10 month old corporation with no track record and no manufacturing plants (and probably no income) is going to oversee a 300 million dollar project whose core technologies have yet to be proven commercially viable and NM is going to enter into negotiations with them!!! Pardon my skepticism, but let them go to Lebanon (what sane company is investing in Lebanon these days?).
Get a grip Bayer, it aint going to happen.
And just as a reminder, we were told in 1996 that the mill site would be worth almost 10 million dollars (318000 square feet at $30 per foot), what happened with that?
Mark
Hi all -
I have been tuning into this conversation from a distance as I grew up around the area. I think its very important to analyze, criticize, and evaluate the cellulosic ethanol plant proposed for New Milford. Especially in light of ALL the development New Milford has experienced over the last decade.
There is both a government mandate and an economic need for ethanol as a transportation fuel in the near term (our gas is already E10), but even more so in the mid to long term. Our days of importing oil to satisfy our gluttonous energy needs are all but over in a modern geopolitical landscape which includes global warming; Peak oil (potentially came and went in May '05); China, India, and the vastly expanding energy needs of many of our 7+ billion Earth residents.
Clearly things need to change. The baby boomers never needed to be resourceful like their parents during WW2, and like their children will be forced to in the upcoming years.
Future automobiles and other forms of transportation may ultimately run on H2 or electricity powered by wave, wind, solar power, etc. and leave liquid fuels behind. We are not even close to this yet. Our system with all of its current infrastructure is not equipped to handle such dramatic changes, which is some of the appeal to ethanol - very little needs to change as is (combustible engines, macro-economics, service stations, etc). At the very least, ethanol as a transitional fuel allows us as a society to approach energy independence, abandoning the need to participate in reckless wars, and resets the carbon balance that pulling fossil fuels from the subsurface and burning it into the atmosphere unevenly upsets.
Folks who kill the concept of corn ethanol and embarrassingly poor fuel economies of so many flex fuel vehicles are absolutely right. Food vs fuel, CAFE politics, fuel combustion energetics, poor energy return, YES, all importantly valid criticisms. BUT, in my estimation, knowing these massive pitfalls isn't a show stopper and isn't the full picture. Corn ethanol was meant to be a stepping stone for cellulosic ethanol - many of the fermentation equipment are off the shelf and are compatible. At the time when ethanol was getting traction (earlier part of this decade), corn was rotting in silos and the price artificially inflated. The crop bubble inflated too quickly and has rippled globally, often in a negative way, during the time which advanced biofuels were supposed to mature.
Is ethanol the only answer? No. Eventually, you are likely to see a diversity of fuels at the pump. Instead of "87, 89, 91" it will instead read "E85, conventional gasoline (E10), Biodiesel (from algae most likely)" and who knows what else.
To bring it back to New Milford...These plants WILL be built all over the U.S. as many demonstration plants have and are already being built. Its very interesting to me that New Milford could be at the front end of this wave. It does seem a logical location with the amount of cars that travel each day on the metropolitan area's highways. Based on economic models, bio-refineries will have to be relatively small scale and spread out regionally unlike the concentrated refineries along the NJ turnpike for example. So, if not New Milford, it'll be Milford, or Orange, or wherever. I wonder if people would be as concerned about the 'flammability' of the 'chemicals' if Absolut or Sam Adams wanted to build a brewery/distillery there? There can be dilute acids involved in some of the pretreatment procedures, but the overall process is pretty tame. This industry certainly has to be a major step-up from a Brass Mill.
If this were to go through, a proactive New Milford community would be served well to assure that environmental regulations were being adhered to; especially in respect to water and air quality. Make them re-route truck traffic through new roads and ensure that they be good community members in general. It seems from what I can gather that these folks are eager to show that they can address the not-in-my-backyard fears. And they should.
Cellulosic ethanol is already, and will continue to 'happen'. Let these guys sink $100m into New Milford and this worthwhile effort and make sure they follow the rules.
I really want to know how things are working out there in New Milford...
Here in the UP of Michigan, I am banging my head against a brick wall trying to get my fellow council members to go in this direction.
Meanwhile, you all have it in your lap, and some have been ready to push it away!
So please, somebody fill me in and tell me that you did the right thing. Tell me that you gave your town a future.
Well, here it is almost 2009. Any progress on this? What has the collapse of oil prices and the economy done for this proposal?
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