• GeneSyst Applications
  • MSW
  • Commercial Applications
  • Partnering with the Community
  • Ethanol 101

GeneSyst offers broad potential for commercial, industrial, and municipal applications. As the chart below illustrates, the GeneSyst system can be an economically profitable solution to a very diverse set of waste problems.

The conversion process can be done with a single type of input, or using multiple sources of raw material. A varied range of input creates a rich “soup” for conversion to the bio-products of choice, and increases source reliability from an economic standpoint. The system design will reflect the desired end-product, based on favorable market conditions.

GeneSyst reduces landfill acreage, long-term cost and eliminates all potential storage liabilities by safely regenerating Municipal Solid Waste, or MSW, into profitable energy products. This MSW represents a negative cost: local communities not only provide raw source materials, they pay for the privilege of disposing of troublesome urban waste. Approximately 95% of the collected waste can be used beneficially.

A GeneSyst facility requires a relatively small footprint, thus can be strategically placed closer to the source of the MSW than traditional waste management solutions would allow. This reduces the use of fossil fuels to transport and handle the raw waste. GeneSyst utilizes a continuous flow system (rather than a batch system), and can adapt to variations in flow volume, handling between 350 to 7,000 tons per day.

The sorting process takes place within the main facility; glass, metal, plastics and gravel are recycled at a profit. Non-chlorinated plastics can be converted to the denaturant additive needed for a final ethanol product. The remaining organic raw material begins the GPV conversion process, which will result in clean, sterile, marketable products.

A GeneSyst system can solve a number of commercial and industrial waste problems as well. The huge amount of animal waste generated by CAFO’s (concentrated animal feedlot operations), slaughterhouses and rendering plants can now be converted safely into valuable products.

Agricultural by-products such as corn stover and sugarcane bagasse, and even toxic chemicals used by the paper industry are transformed into clean energy commodities.

The GeneSyst facility, using a multi-faceted free enterprise approach, is a rich community resource on several levels. It promotes sustainability in both waste management and energy production, does not rely on a steady flow of fresh water, requires only a small footprint, and provides local jobs, all while protecting the environment. It’s a win-win situation for all concerned. Now that’s working smart.

What starts in a community, stays in a community. The local financial resources expended to generate the flow of biomass waste can now be recouped in the form of new energy sources, which can also benefit the same local economy. For example, a fleet of ethanol-powered waste trucks can operate at low or no cost simply by utilizing the ethanol generated by local residential waste. Methane can be sold for carbon credits. Butanol can be transported to the nearest airport and sold for jet fuel. Yeast proteins can be sold to the agricultural industry as a feed supplement. Wealth is recirculated within the local economy.

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material of plants wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants. Lignocellulose is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.

Production of ethanol from lignocellulose is advantageous in that the raw materials are abundant, diverse, and usually discarded. A 1999 study conducted by Dr. Marie Walsh of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated : 36.8 million dry tons (0.63 Quads) of urban wood wastes deposited in municipal solid waste landfills; 45 million dry tons (0.76 Quads) of forest residues, and 150.7 million dry tons (2.3 Quads) of corn stover and wheat straw available annually.

As noted below, cellulosic ethanol can produce several profitable products from cellulosic waste materials, often at a negative cost. Extensive tracts of land are not required to produce the needed raw materials. And because of the unique GeneSyst GPV process, ethanol yields are substantially higher per ton as compared to more “traditional” ethanol production processes.