Putting it all together

The Renewable Energy from Waste (REW) Conference may be referred to as a conference, but to many who attend the premier event for the waste conversion industry, it is far more. Now in its third year, the REW Conference, Nov. 16-19, at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, combines a workshop, conference program and facility tour into one robust event.

Produced by REW magazine publisher, The Recycling Today Media Group, Valley View, Ohio, in cooperation with Gershman, Brickner & Bratton (GBB), Fairfax, Virginia, the REW Conference is designed to broaden attendees’ understanding of waste conversion technologies as well as market trends critical to the development of new projects.

Anaerobic digestion, engineered fuel, mixed-waste processing and biofuels production are just some of the technology areas that will be addressed. Outlooks for specific areas of the waste conversion industry, including biogas and gasification, also will be shared.

Mary Jo McGuire, a county commissioner for Ramsey County, Minnesota, attended the 2014 conference and said the conference provided relevant content as her region looks at its solid waste issues.

Fellow Ramsey County official Zach Hanson, the county’s environmental health director, who also spoke at the 2014 conference in San Jose, California, said, “This conference gives us the opportunity not just to hear from great speakers about the wide variety of topics we are studying, but to talk to vendors and learn about specific technologies.”

Several opportunities to network in an exhibit hall of nearly two dozen technology providers is an asset to the conference.

Sarah Reeves, a lawyer with Stoel Rives LLP, and who was a first-time attendee in 2014, said, “It is nice there is an event that is focused on renewable energy from waste. Our firm does a lot of work in renewable energy broadly and this seems quite unique and is nice to have something so focused on renewable energy from waste in particular. There is a lot of really good, practical, real world experience being shared here, which is phenomenal.”

REW Conference organizers have worked to develop a robust program to address attendees’ needs. This year’s conference builds on the successful programming of previous years by providing more market-driven information, expanded tour capacity and a preconference workshop dedicated to public-sector planning for waste conversion projects.
 

The program

Kicking off the educational sessions is a special preconference workshop, Nov. 16 from 1:30-5:30 p.m., “Planning for success – Public Sector Planning and Implementation of Waste Conversion Projects.” Harvey Gershman, president of GBB; Ric Sapir, partner, Hawkins, Delafield & Wood LLP; and Mark Hammond, executive director, Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County (Florida), team up for this half-day workshop to give exclusive insights into the best approaches for getting a community waste conversion project accomplished. (This workshop is offered for an additional fee.)

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Click the image above to see the full schedule.

The main conference program takes place, Nov. 17 and 18. Over the course of two days, attendees will hear from more than 30 experts who will share case studies and real-world experience in planning, financing and implementing projects.

In the opening session, “Progress Report – Waste Conversion,” industry representatives will provide an update on waste conversion technologies being brought to commercial scale in North America, including updates and outlooks from representatives from various waste-to-energy sectors on their specific areas of expertise. This session, moderated by Gershman, includes Norma McDonald, Organic Waste Systems and American Biogas Council (ABC); Allison Kerester, Gasification Technologies Council (GTC); and Ted Michaels, president of the Energy Recovery Council (ERC).

The next session, “Waste Not – Processing for Maximum Energy Recovery,” will get at the heart of the mixed waste processing discussion talking about how these facilities are being developed to maximize value of recyclables and produce high-calorific-value feedstock for waste-to-energy and fuel applications. GBB’s Bob Brickner, Jacobo Moreno, Valoriza Environmental Services; Craig Cookson, American Chemistry Council; and Steve Miller, Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), will share their insights into this growing approach to managing waste.

Additional sessions on Nov. 17 include a session on “Why Waste-to-Energy works in Florida,” where speakers, including Marc McMenamin, Green Conversion Systems, will discuss market conditions and the regulatory climate that make waste-to-energy projects work in the Sunshine State, and “Smart Business – A Look at Industrial Applications for RDF and Waste Conversion.” This session addresses the unique ways some of the top companies in the country are using waste conversion technologies to power their operations and reduce their environmental footprints.

On Nov. 18, programming opens with a session titled, “Financing in the Real World.” This panel will share real-life examples of financing waste conversion and waste-to-energy investments in North America. Among the speakers are Jandra Lubovich of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc.

The “Gasification and Advanced Biofuels are the Future,” panel discusses how their business models are working in this growing industry. GTC’s Kerester moderates this session which includes speakers Craig Stuart-Paul of Fiberright; and Gerson Santos-Leon of Abengoa Bioenergy.

The final session of the program will take a close look at a successful project in the Orlando area powering local tourist attractions from biosolids and food waste. Speakers will discuss the public-private partnership that led to the Harvest Power Central Florida Energy Garden.
 

Tour time

In conjunction with the last session, on Nov. 19, attendees will have the ability to tour the Harvest Power Energy Garden on limited, first come, first served basis.

The facility has been described as one of the most innovative anaerobic digestion projects of its kind in North America. This facility provides waste management through its specially engineered design to codigest biosolids with food wastes from local resorts, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, sports arenas, golf courses and the food processing community. The capacity is 130,000 tons per year with 5.4 megawatts of combined heat-and-power (CHP) output.

Ramsey County’s McGuire, who attended the facility tour at the 2014 conference, said, “It is immensely helpful because you can hear panels and you can talk about a lot of options, but it is really seeing it in reality and up close that will really help us get a feel for what we are thinking about.”

For more information, including updates on the program or to register for the 2015 Renewable Energy from Waste Conference, visit www.REWConference.com.

The author is editor of Renewable Energy from Waste and can be reached at ksmith@gie.net.

Stay up to date: Stay up to date with the most current speaker roster, speaker bios and news about the Renewable Energy from Waste Conference at www.REWConference.com.

Videos available: Attendees share why the Renewable Energy from Waste Conference is valuable in a video preview available at www.REWmag.com/rew-2015-preview-video.aspx. Watch a video tour of the Harvest Power Energy Garden in advance of the Renewable Energy from Waste Conference at http://www.rewmag.com/harvest-power-florida-video.aspx.