World Power Generation Sources, from EIA
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A Trashy Investment?
Here’s one from the Wall Street Journal blog:
Seeing Value in Trash, Harvest Power Raises $110 Millon
Food scraps and trashed Christmas trees could one day be a source of a billion-dollar business, according to Harvest Power, a start-up that just raised $110 million to help convert organic waste to energy and fertilizer, VentureWire has learned.
From Harvest Company’s website, the financing included a Who’s Who of venture capital:
True North Venture Partners led the investment with American Refining and Biochemical, Inc. Existing investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), DAG Ventures and Generation Investment Management among others, also participated in the financing round which was one of the biggest in renewable energy history.
Generation Investment, by the way, is the enviro-themed venture capital firm started by Al Gore. Heavy-duty green-preneur sponsorship…
Trash Talk
Harvest Power is a startup with an organic stream model: composting, mulches, renewable energy, engineered fuels. In public/private partnerships, Harvest’s mission is to rebuild soil and close the sustainability loop.
Sounds good when you say it fast, but we should remain just a little skeptical.
For one thing, much like wind and solar and biomass, composting is a small-scale solution the economics of which don’t scale up too well at an industrial, capital-intensive level. (for real small-scale composting solutions, try Sustainable Life Blog‘s latest post, Reader Question: Apartment Composting)
Second, I’m wary of most industries that need public funds in the form of subsidies to stay viable. In public/private partnerships, the only privates that get squeezed are the taxpayers’.
The money quote from the WSJ blog article:
The company is currently building two commercial-scale power generation facilities in Canada. It will sell power for about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour to local utilities, cheaper than most renewables but more expensive than the prices for natural gas-powered electricity.
Typically, unprofitable ventures will seek to enhance their business moat through the political process. While I personally support sustainability, the term should also stand for turning a profit in the free market.
Global Renewable Capacity
Yes, we know that in some municipalities, consumers are given a choice of sorts on how their power mix is delivered. They can opt to pay more per kilowatt-hour, based on the source, whether renewable or fossil. There are obvious physical limitations to this model: if a power utility only has 10% of its generating capacity derived from renewables, and 20% of its customers opt for 100% renewable, the utility can’t possibly satisfy this demand. Extreme example, but only presented to show that large capital-intensive facilities like a coal plant will continue to be utilized until the ROI is satisfied, either through the market process, or through captive subsidies.
Waste Not, Not Want?
We should justly be wary of alternate means of power generation from biomass. Just because biomass carries “renewable” bio-credentials doesn’t necessarily mean it is environmentally clean or carbon neutral. Ethanol, for example, was and is a stupid waste of taxpayer funds. The nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions in straight biomass combustion are higher than fossil fuels like natural gas. Our own city’s experiment with power generation from trash ended a few years ago, quietly and ignominiously.
So, a gold star to Harvest Power for their soil-friendly company mission, a middling neutral for securing financing from politically-connected greenpreneurs, and a very large demerit (or kick in the huevos, whichever) for seeking to profit off the citizens with taxpayer-subsidized capital traps.
Wood gasification, on the other hand, is a horse of a different color. Check out this Mother Earth News series of articles, starting with this one featuring Wayne Keith, a Springville,Alabama farmer/inventor: “I Went 84 mph in a Wood Gas Truck”
1944 - Finnish landing troops for Tornio are being loaded on board in Oulu Toppila harbour during the Lapland War in Finland. The truck is equipped with a wood gas generator.
On to the Links….
I’m trying to change up the weekly roundup, keeping it fresh. If a blog post was highlighted in last week’s go-around, chances are it won’t be in this one.
I was graciously invited on AverageJoe’s podcast this week, along with fine folks Len Penzo, Carrie of Careful Cents, and Dom of Your Finances Simplified. The subject of the discussion was entrepreneurship. Check out the podcast, at Free Financial Advisor. If the podcast isn’t up yet, keep checking back. There’s lots more good stuff on there, including this: Allowances and Overprotective Parents: Our Cuppa Joe Thursday Discussion
On that include thing, we’ll make an exception for PK @ DQYDJ, with Weird Effects of Inflation: The Costs of Coinage
Heck, another exception, but only because there’s a photo of Office Space Milton on the blog post (and also because it’s a great post). Kevin @ Invest It Wisely, with What Do You Lose when You Decide to Stop Working for the Man?
Here’s a headline sure to make many a PF blogger tremble, from Yahoo Finance: Why Apple Shareholders Should Fear The Government. Price collusion on textbooks and monopoly pricing on iTunes. Dunno, prices went from $0.99 to mostly $1.29/song. Could that be mostly inflation? Here’s a libertarian perspective from Jeffrey Tucker @ Whiskey & Gunpowder, Regulators Take On The E-Book
If you’re planning on supporting a charity this week, make it one sponsored by a fellow PF Blogger. Your Finances Simplified talks about Uplifting Sisters, a group dedicated to making young women feel special around prom time.
New to the Yakezie blogging scene is TB from BlueCollarWorkman. Here TB lays out how it is to install bathroom stalls to string regulations: What You Didn’t Know About Installing Bathrooms
In a blogging mechanics interlude, Karl @ Cult of Money asks if you know your “customers”, with Segmenting Your Visitors for Fun and Profit. On second thought, “segmenting your visitors” could also work as a groaner-type tag line for a B-movie motel slasher flick.
From Denise @ Write and Get Paid, here’s a little Monday Motivation: Successful Writer with Dogged Determination
Carrie @ Careful Cents has a Few Facts About a Roth IRA. You don’t have a Roth yet? Why not, whassamatta u?!
Summer traveling season is here. Marissa at Thirty Six Months has a few tips on how to save while traveling.
Daisy @ Add Vodka has a few words of advice for young newbie professionals, with Start Off On The Right Foot: Tips for Interns (Or Newbies in General)
Mark @ My Own Advisor goes over his dividend income, with March 2012 Dividend Income Update
Maria @ Money Principle riffs on car ownership, with Zen and the art of motorcar ownership: how much are our car ownership costs, really ?
Free Money Finance reviews various credit card rewards programs, with Best Cash Back Credit Cards
John @ Married with Debt takes on Early Retirement Extreme
In the Good Eats section, we find Andi @ Meal Plan Rescue, with a recipe for a delicious Quick Potsticker Sauce
Carnivals and Roundups
Best of Money Blog Carnival $150 – The Easter Edition, hosted by One Cent At A Time
Carnival of Retirement, 14th Edition, hosted by Passive Income to Retire
Totally Money Blog Carnival #62 – Easter Edition, hosted by Stupid Cents
Festival of Frugality #331, hosted at One Smart Dollar
Yakezie Carnival, Easter Edition, hosted by Watson’s, Inc
Carnival of Money Pros, Spam Folder Edition, hosted by Beating Broke
Friday Night Links, Maze Edition, over at KrantCents
Beating The Index has commentary on natural goes to along with his roundup, in Weekend Roundup: Go long on Natural Gas, says Goldman
101 Centavos around the web… I don’t often write on other blogs, but when I do, I make it Penny Thots. Stay informed, my friends.
I’m about done here. Time to go pick up a load of “free” mulch from our municipal green waste site. No public/private partnership there, just good old-fashioned involuntary taxpayer support. Thanks for stopping by and reading. Please feel free to subscribe to this blog, either by email, twitter or RSS reader. I’m not too fussy *how* it’s done…
Great article. I am a firm believe in being able to stand on your own two feet. Too many companies rely on government subsidies just to stay afloat.
Sean @ One Smart Dollar recently posted..Determining Your Risk Tolerance
Hello Sean – thanks for stopping by. It’s regrettable when companies stop innovating on their own merits and entrepreneurship, and instead rely on the government to restrict competition.
Good point about public/private schemes; and thanks for including us in the round up.
maria@moneyprinciple recently posted..100 words on job interviews
Good morning, Maria. The more I read up on public/private partnerships, the more I cement my opinion that it’s not a partnership at all.
Thanks for sharing my post, Andrew!
Carrie Smith recently posted..6 Business Lessons to Learn from Facebook’s Instagram Deal
Thanks for the link, it has been a busy weekend for me so far. Somehow I decided to use the best weekend of the year so far to pick to do a spring cleaning. It’s been great getting ride of a bit of the clutter, but extra difficult with the nice weather…
CultOfMoney recently posted..Segmenting your visitors for fun and profit
Once you’re launched, you’re launched. Spring cleaning is that way…
Andrew, andy, drew.. or cent? Anyways thank you for mentioning my Charity
YFS recently posted..UpliftingSisters.com Prom Dreams Giveaway
All are fine, just don’t call me late for dinner…
84mph in a wood powered truck? That’s nuts! How does that even work? Is that actually environmentally friendly? My understanding was that wood combustion was a lot more UNfriendly than gas combustion, due to all the particulate and other crap that gets emitted.
I don’t believe in subsidies, and I think that people should be ashamed of themselves for supporting famine and starvation around the world. Also, paying people huge sums to generate power via renewables and reselling it to the grid is retarded and encourages waste and fraud.
Far better to let the technology catch up organically, which it will.
Invest It Wisely recently posted..What Do You Lose when You Decide to Stop Working for the Man?
The process is pyrolisis, making syngas from organic material under low or no-oxygen conditions. Different than straight up combustion, where the particulates and CO2 are released into the atmosphere.
With wood pyrolisis, the by-product is biochar, which besides being an excellent soil amendment, is also a handy way to sequester carbon.
Yet another way that alternate energy works at the individual level.
p.s. thanks for the exception
Invest It Wisely recently posted..What Do You Lose when You Decide to Stop Working for the Man?
Thanks for the include, always nice to break the virtual rules!
Also, glad you’re joining the podcast. I’m sure you’re much more interesting than yours truly!
PK recently posted..The Three Account Method of Automating Your Funds
Just a guest appearance, PK, pinch-hitting for Dr. Dean.
101 Centavos recently posted..Cut Out That Middleman! Buying Local Saves You Money
Renewable does not mean environmentally clean, true. Unfortunately, we tend to fall for buzz words and talking points. I used to think “all natural” foods were….you know, natural at least? Nice round-up. It’s raining cats and dogs over here, the baby’s sleeping, the house is clean, the kids are too cool to play with mom….so I need some good reading to keep me busy! I hope you’re having a nice weekend, Andrew!
Michelle recently posted..A New Bike
Heh, “natural” foods made in China and shipped halfway round the world. Somehow they still get the organic label. Weekend was super, and today looks even better.
Thanks for the link Andrew!
Hope you had a great weekend.
Always instructive to follow your portfolio updates, Mark.
Thanks for the informative post. Staying up to date on eco organziations is something I need to work on. This information has been really helpful.
I agree with Michelle though. Renewable does not mean green and we need to start making that message clear so that efforts and resources are put towards the right thing. We can still do a lot of damage with renewable sources.
Miss T, I remember reading an article a few years ago that made the claim that petroleum was a renewable resource. Some reservoir in the Gulf of Mexico was filling back up (slowly), and therefore, ipso facto, oil must be defined as renewable.
Thanks for the inclusion. Wood gas trucks look pretty sweet. I’d like to build one, but I’m not an engine guy. Knowing how to build a wood gas engine to charge a battery bank is an invaluable skill to learn.
Me too. I think I could manage a wood-gas generator, given enough time, but a wood-gas vehicle would be way beyond me.
Thanks for mentioning me—and also for this post on eco organizations. I know we aren’t quite there yet– but cannot wait for the day when we can all stop fighting over the limited oil resources on our planet. Heard of a car in middle TN at MTSU that drove hundreds of miles on just a gallon of gas—so if we would start encouraging scientists, it could happen in our lifetime. Wonder what wars would be about then?
DeniseGabbard@WriteandGetPaid recently posted..10 Work from Home Jobs Poised for Major Growth!
Hi Denise – I’d love a link to that articel at MTSU. I wouldn’t discount wars just on the basis of energy, though. Land and water are plenty to fight about.
Thanks for the links. I am off to go check out the composting when living in an apartment post by Sustainable Life Blog.
Melissa@PersonalFinanceJourney recently posted..Tax Day Freebies, April 17, 2012
Hi Melissa — after that visit, you can come back here and see my own posts on vermicomposting…
Living in a small town, we don’t have the option to choose how our power is created…that is, unless we’re willing to get the kids on the power-o-bike in the barn.
Thanks for sitting in last week! The property values of the podcast increased significantly with you on board.
AverageJoe recently posted..Worst of the Free Financial Advisor Podcast Episode 5 – Top 5 Ways to Cut Vacation Expenses
That’s a brilliant idea, Joe. That’s another way of exploiting the kids!
And thanks for the kind words on the podcast, the hospitality was tops!
I am a big believer in the free market system. Government influence in private sector never helps anyone including consumer.
Shilpan recently posted..The Buffett Rule: Does it make sense?
Ah yes, but that’s not what State planners would have us believe….