On the Right Track: Sierra Energy Gets Smaller

Mike Hart, President and CEO Sierra Energy

Sometimes the best innovations come from trying to solve a different problem. After all, Post-It notes, microwaves and potato chips were all invented by accident. Sierra Energy, founded in 2004 in Davis, Calif., evolved in a similar fashion.

Bruce Claflin, the chief industrial engineer at Kaiser Steel and John Jasbinsek, initially developed Sierra’s technology. The duo was originally working on a way to produce iron more efficiently before coming to the realization that they had created an even better way of converting waste streams into energy.

Sierra Energy is owned by Sierra Railroad, which runs three scenic lines throughout Northern California. The parent company gives Sierra Energy the solid financial backing every new technology needs to get up and running. Railroads produce waste in the form of ties and could be the reason Sierra Railroad was so interested in furthering a clean and efficient gasification system.

The technology derives from the traditional blast furnace found in steel mills. By modifying the design to inject steam and oxygen into the system, Sierra’s FastOx gasifier creates a medium-BTU syngas capable of producing renewable energy. The company mentions it’s goal of retrofitting blast furnaces, which we view as an intelligent idea since having some of the infrastructure in place will save $$.

Sierra Energy has a demonstration system in place at the Department of Defense’s Renewable Energy Testing Center at McClellan Park, Calif. Known as the Mk4 Gasifier, it operates at a 5 ton-per-day rate, which is smaller than the 10 tpd FastOx Pathfinder the company plans to develop for commercial purposes. The price tag for the six containerized modular system is listed as $2.7 million.

Better BTU Take: We’ve long said that a smaller and more modular design is the best chance our industry has for development and it looks like Sierra Energy is on the same wavelength. We’ve yet to see numbers on the output of the demonstration model which leaves the question of its profitability but we’ll definitely be on the lookout for updates on this technology.