Envirepel Energy, Inc., a privately held company in Vista pioneering clean renewable energy solutions, met a major milestone last week by reaching "better than expected" emissions numbers with their renewable energy biomass combustion test unit. Governor Schwarzenegger has mandated that renewable energy generation make up 20 percent of the electrical energy portfolios of California’s Utility Companies by 2010.

President Anthony Arand believes the Governor’s mandate is within reach. Arand said, "This week we demonstrated sustained operations of our prototype hybrid gasification unit, and verified raw combustion gas emissions levels. This is a major milestone in our development efforts. Basically, it’s our equipment, in our town, with our guys, and our air district rules—which happen to be the toughest in the world."

The emissions numbers are monitored on their test unit which takes biomass (greenwaste) through a "gasification" process. Later this year they will use the technology to produce electricity for their own operations and SDG&E. According to Arand, the technology isn’t anything new, but his team has developed automated computer control software and emissions scrubbing systems to be used on larger combustion systems that emit cleaner air than what typically would enter the building.

"Now that we’ve demonstrated that the ‘combustion unit’ works, we are off to the next part of our effort which is to prove that the design can be used for commercial electrical generation, which is our 2 MW project Kittyhawk." 2MW of electricity is enough power for 1200-1500 homes.

What could that mean for homeowners in the future around an Envirepel Energy renewable energy plant? Cleaner air, less landfills, lower electricity cost, less traffic, more reliable electricity and less brown/black outs.

Arand’s renewable energy solutions are not going unnoticed, especially within the power generation community, as evidenced by his invitation to be a featured speaker at a Washington DC Biomass Energy convention earlier this year. Envirepel Energy has also had a steady stream of visitors from around the world inquiring of their efforts and touring the facility.

Arand gives a lot of credit not only to his team of engineers, but also to the City of Vista and the Vista Planning Group, who have given their full Advertisement

[ Shred and Go ] support from the beginning. This was a welcome change for the innovators who tried initially to build the plant in the unincorporated portion of San Diego County and were "thwarted," according to Arand, slowing them down by two years and costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in delays.

In stark contrast to the County, the December, 2006 Vista Planning Group meeting gave unanimous approval to Envirepel to construct their manufacturing and test facility in Vista, clearing the way for their research and development.

Vista Planning Group Director Richardson said, "I’m all for this… I think it would be a positive thing to have here… I think this an asset." Director Martin said, "Frankly, I think that Mr. Arand is the type of person that we should encourage to locate in our business district, somebody developing these new environmentally friendly technologies. I compliment him and his work."

Numerous agency officials and government representatives touring the plant have offered their support, understanding the complications of working with dozens of agencies. State Assemblyman Jeffries’ Chief of Staff Jeff Greene said during a recent visit, "We are very concerned about how difficult it is to permit new power generation projects in California.  If this technology can produce cleaner energy while helping solve our region’s solid waste problems, then it should be aggressively pursued and accepted by regulatory agencies."

Envirepel Energy already has several plants in the planning stages in Southern California. According to a recent California Energy Commission (CEC) report, California’s in-state biomass opportunities could amount to 2,450 MW of power capacity and 18 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity by 2050, as well as 1.6 billion gallons per year of biofuels, which Envirepel Energy is also pioneering.

In addition to providing the energy solution for areas needing power, and retrofitting older power plants with new cleaner technology, Envirepel is also planning to build biofuel plants.

"We will start working on the use of combustion gases and CO2 recovery scrubbers to start our efforts in reformulating green house gases back into hydrocarbon based liquid fuels. We would like nothing more than to make America independent again and remove our need to buy oil from other countries," Arand said.