Sale of two Direct FuelCell (biogas) power plants (California, 600 kW)

[jpak]

FuelCell Energy announces sale of two Direct FuelCell power plants to Dublin San Ramon Services District

http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage6341.html

DANBURY, Conn.--FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of ultra-clean electric power plants for commercial, industrial and government customers, today announced that Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD) has purchased two of its high efficiency Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants to provide electric power to run its Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility located in Pleasanton, Calif. The DFC300MA power plants will generate 600 kilowatts of ultra-clean power and reduce harmful emissions by operating on fuel gas harvested from the waste treatment process.

The power plants are combined with an anaerobic digester -- equipment that creates and captures usable methane fuel during the wastewater treatment cycle -- and are expected to be installed next summer. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The wastewater treatment plant, in close proximity to residential areas, not only serves as a good neighbor by providing "green" power, it also enables the facility to meet the more stringent emission standards that the California Air Resources Board currently is proposing. Harmful emissions are reduced because, unlike most conventional power plants which combust fuel, DFC units convert the fuel electrochemically.

"By installing fuel cell power plants running on biogas we are able to help the community by reducing emissions and lessening the demand for power from the local grid," said DSRSD General Manager Bert Michalczyk. "And the wastewater treatment facility benefits from having onsite reliable 24/7 power that reduces the need for more expensive energy from the local utility. It's a compelling proposition for the people in the Dublin San Ramon Service District."

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[BruceMcF]

1. This is great news ... and before anyone raises the objection ...

... "wedges".

First, note that the Greenhouse Gas reduction in the process is the reduction in Greenhouse effect in converting methane to carbon dioxide, since Methane, though it does not last as long in the atmosphere as CO2, still lasts decades, and the greenhouse effect of the methane is greater than the greenhouse effect of the carbon dioxide released when it is consumed for power.

Second, of course this is a renewable resource, our own waste that is, and the carbon originally came from food we eat which was sequestered this last year or two, so the process in reality converts what would have been a carbon dioxide to methane cycle into a carbon dioxide to carbon dioxide cycle ... its not just a positive impact, it is carbon neutral (except of course for the fossil fuels burned in the production of the food in the first place). The use of fuel cells rather than a traditional methane power plant then gives an added benefit in terms of air pollution, which avoids an unecessary tug of watr between reducing GHG and reducing air pollution.

Third, of course we cannot run our economy on this. The path ahead requires abandoning the one-size-fits-all mentality of the auto uber alles age, and taking a large number of slices out of the problem. This is one of those slices.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. The Objections From The Right Wingers Will Come For Other Reasons

Right-wingers would object to the plant for other, usually unvoiced reasons. If that plant made enough electricity to power the water treatment works and had enough left over to sell to the local grid, right-wingers would have conniption fits. What drives Twenty-first century "conservatives" into fits of rage is a municipally-owned utility that not only pays its way but actually makes a profit for the taxpayers--right-wingers hate such things with blind fury.

[msongs]

2. FCEL stock is tanking. hope this makes it go up cuz we have some

FCEL which has gone from almost $15 a share to $6 a share in less than 8 months.

investing in alternative fuels to encourage development is not always the wise move declared by many pundits. helping the planet does not always have a reward for us greedy capitalists LOL.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm