Re: GAS-L: Gasifiers and engines

[Harmon Seaver <hseaver@cybershamanix.com>]

LINVENT@aol.com wrote:

(snip)

>  Power generation is not a major concern for them although
> they pay $.085/kwhr.

    Well, the problem is they don't actually pay that, it's just deducted from
their taxes as an operating expense. So what the incentive? Furthermore, if they
expend the capital for gasification and use the fuel (which they are now
selling) for that, producing their own electric -- then they both lose the
profit on the fuel and can no longer deduct the power cost from taxes.

>     All of this is to say that gasification has a market, but even under the
> most optimum of conditions, it is difficult to find and secure.
>     No wonder people get frustrated in this business.

    I can see hope in what some states are doing with net metering, like WI, CA,
MN, and NY, I believe,  which will provide a market for the renewable produced
electric. But in most states the net metering only allows you to deduct the
excess from this month on next month's bill, anything else gets zeroed out at
the end of the year.
    But if that mill near you was in CA or WI, they could actually sell their
excess power and make a profit. You still have the problem of convincing them of
the feasibility of the whole thing, however.
     I can see the market possibilities for large scale industrial units, and
some market say in CA where they can now sell 100KW at retail price, or even
some in WI for 30KW units, if the units themselves were cheap enough, but most
of the people I know personally who are interested are also people who would
just build it themselves.
     Maybe it's just a matter of building a market thru education, and I really
don't see anything at all in the mainstream media about gasification. Solar and
wind are about as far as most reporters can see, I guess.

--
Harmon Seaver
CyberShamanix
http://www.cybershamanix.com



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