Virtually every week, CWT receives an inquiry from a municipality or a commercial enterprise that wants us to come build a TCP plant in their area. They've seen us or read about us somewhere, and the logic of what we're doing with TCP instantly registers. We've received literally hundreds of inquiries like this over the past 3 or 4 years. Unfortunately, as a start up company, we're not in a position to pursue most of these yet. But it sure is encouraging to know that our technology makes so much instinctive sense to so many.
BARTA, the transportation authority in Reading, Pennsylvania, is one of these companies. The Reading Eagle wrote about the authority's interest in CWT today. It's way too soon to know if this will actually go anywhere, but State Rep. Thomas Caltagirone from Reading actually sponsored a bill in the State legislature that would create a tax credit to lure CWT to build a plant there. He sees our technology as a way to "break the stranglehold on foreign oil." The bill didn't pass the Senate, but what's really significant is that key enterprises like BARTA and leaders like Rep. Caltagirone are demonstrating that serious mainstream interest in alternative energy solutions like ours is growing. In fact, the BARTA board is talking about forming a coalition with other public transportation systems in Pennsylvania to collaborate on the effort to get an alternative energy plant built.
This is good news indeed and, hopefully, a harbinger of things to come.
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12 comments:
Wonderful news.
I am one of those people who read about TCP and it made sense, at least from a layman's point of view. I hope all the issues get worked out and these plants start popping up everywhere. It is an excellent local solution, both to the need for oil and the need to deal with waste products in an ecological manner.
Brian writes: "Unfortunately, as a start up company, we're not in a position to pursue most of these yet." Why not? I've been following this technology for three years waiting for the next step to be taken. Could it be that the process is not economically viable without a very large intial capital investment and similarly large government subsidies? CWT is so closed mouth about its current state only CWT knows the answer. We'd all love to see CWT take off and many of us are ready to write our government to get behind it. However, how do you do that when CWT is so non-transparent.
Brian,
You recently blogged on May 22nd that you were scratching your head as to what it will take before the country (read: our Government) wakes up to your technology.
Now I'm scratching my head. You have all these municipalities or commercial enterprises contacting you and you are turning them away. What am I missing here? I'm left to assume they are asking for treatment of waste you don't yet work with. But, you have proven technology using animal waste - surely there are more locations than the one you have now that could up and running. There must be some sort of public/private joint venture that can be reached to bring these online quicker.
Yours is one of a few companies I truly wish our (federal) Government would inject a few billion into in order to ramp it faster. Aren't your own state's Senators working for you to get some help in this area?
I firmly believe that your company's technlogy, combined with an increased emphasis in this country to shift to PLEV technology in our cars, can rid us of the need for foreign oil.
As an outsider, I wish you guys were moving faster on this stuff - as I'm sure you do to. :)
Has there been any plans or decision on CWT's next plant? If so, what are you at liberty to reveal?
What will it take for CWT to be in a position to pursue new plants? Is there anything the general public can do to help?
Is it possible to build a TCP plant that would fit on the back of a truck? If so, one could probably go from farm to farm processing their waste products. This would be especially useful in the third world and Iowa. :-)
Mr. Appels' blog actually makes me sad. It seems that only a government hand out will intice the company to grow. As one of the groups who has a) a dedicated waste source, b) land for a plant, and c) willingness for public/private long term partnerships - the lack of initiative show by CWT to taking advantange of these project potentials is disheartenting. You can do it! and it will make $!
I am giving a talk to perhaps hundreds of energy enthusiasts and professions this upcoming weekend in Custer Wisconsin. I would like to tell them more about TCP's potential and the scalability of this process for widespread use. If as a "start-up" CWT doesn't have the resources because you are turning away private investments that look to have a controlling interest in your company, I can understand why you would hold back. You want to be able to make the decisions necessary to determine the fate of your systems. But, if you are turning away public dollars (or are not aggressively pursuing government support) then maybe these skeptics are correct -- it's too expensive, too complex, (too smelly?), or somehow else too controversial for fast and wide deployment. Your thoughts?
We hope your talk in Wisconsin goes well. There is an hugh interest and a sense of urgency to find alternatives to fossil fuels and to eliminate waste. We have not been turning down private investments. In fact we have raised over $100 million dollars to bring the technology forward.The issue is that the U.S is run by BigOil and BigAg and the system is designed to keep new ideas out.
We have recieved many naive comments that ask why we need incentives or credits. That is because we [the taxpayer] give over $5.00 per gallon subsidy to BigOil over the pump price. We are just looking for parity with other fuels.
A new technolgy has few friends since by definition it is disruptive to the establishment. Our scientific communiy [Universities, National Labs] have gone so far to created peer review models to evaluate new technologies. How in the world can there be purported experts to evaluate an idea if it is new? Well you can not. Most of the panels are comprised of the staff that works for BigOil and BigAg. So additional hurdels are created, slowing us down, but not stoppin us.
The system and the odds are stacked againts us, but we will take those odds. The deployment of our waste to oil process will hapen. It has to happen!
J. Borrego, you should not feel sad. It is just the way the system has been stacked against new comers. It takes time to develop a process. There does appear to be a sense of urgency for the U.S.leadership to tear down the barriers blocking new technologies that can solve wate and energy issues while creating a public benifit.
Development appears to have been a bit slow in the publics mind, but it is actually normal for something new and disruptive. It is a technologies moment in time where the teething pains are most accute. The next step maturity. I am with u, it will happen!
Hi Brian!
I'm another one that has followed your progress for quite some time, and has been a bit disheartened at the lack of momentum (although I'm always happy to learn that although slowly, you guys are still chugging along).
I had really hoped that the current energy crunch would have put a bit more of a spotlight on you guys, and perhaps there is still some time.
I noted in the news a couple of days ago that the BLM has placed a hold on some Solar Plants pending "environmental studies." Although they are trying to blame those "environmentalist wackos" for it; I'd place even money that it is more of those "status quo" types finding an easy scapegoat.
I hope you have been watching NanoSolar; I couldn't believe that the good old US could come up with such an incredible technology, only to have the entire first years production bought by Germany!!!
Dizzydude,
It is sad that we can come up with great ideas, watch our leadership say we are going to change and then presto, its back to the old ways of drilling... I think when they say we need to move to alternatives it is code for cutting the the alternative energy budgets.
It is still crazy to me that we think alternative energy is expensive. Oil is expensive except they have hidden, and very well all of their subsidies.
When do you think the media will start exposing the hidden subsidies?
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