????現在或許是時候重新定義“垃圾”這個詞了。因為如果加拿大新創企業Enerkem獲得成功，那么垃圾將不再百無一用。Enerkem公司最近獲得了廢物管理公司（Waste Management）以及瓦萊羅能源公司（Valero Energy）等巨頭的支持。它擁有一項專利，能將木材、植物、塑料、紡織品等——基本上除了金屬、玻璃和石頭外什么都行——轉變成燃料，用來為汽車提供動力。這項技術還能將垃圾變成工業用化學品的原料。

????Enerkem公司從垃圾場收走不可回收的廢物，然后把它們轉變成一種合成氣，隨后再通過多個化學步驟，將上述氣體轉變成甲醇或乙醇。過去十年來，科學家和企業家們一直試圖掌握將廢物轉化為燃料的技術。但問題在于，這個轉化過程可能成本極高，而且生成的燃料不敵傳統的汽油，也比不上用玉米制造的乙醇。對于一些變廢物為燃料的技術而言，另一個問題在于涉及的焚燒過程會對環境造成污染。此外，氣化過程則十分耗能，因此整個過程可謂得不償失。

????相比之下，Enerkem公司稱，它的技術是通過在密封容器內進行反應，能使污染程度降至最低，而且是在很低的溫度下以化學方式將垃圾轉化成合成氣，因而耗能很少。Enerkem副總裁瑪麗-海倫?拉博瑞說：“我們認為我們的技術極具經濟效益，如果實現滿負荷生產，我們的燃料將有望跟玉米制造的乙醇以及傳統汽油燃料媲美。”

????這家公司商業模式的一個吸引力在于，潛在市場巨大。據Enerkem估計，北美地區每年產生的垃圾就足夠制造出相當于140億加侖的燃料，相當于美國汽油需求量的10％左右。另外，隨著垃圾傾倒費上漲，各地市政當局都樂意花錢讓Enerkem將垃圾收走——這樣，這家公司一分錢不花就能獲得原料，甚至反而能拿到些錢。

????Enerkem的另一個優勢在于，它的工廠都建在城市垃圾填埋場附近，使得這家公司與其他生物燃料制造商相比擁有具有巨大的成本優勢。Lux Research公司研究負責人馬克?邦杰解釋稱：“其它生物燃料公司不得不將玉米和其他原料用卡車運送到建在農村的工廠，然后再將制造出的燃料用卡車運輸數百英里到市場，運輸成本可能導致他們的生產成本增加50％至100％。而Enerkem不需要這樣做，這就給它帶來了巨大的優勢。”市政環衛車都直接將垃圾運到Enerkem公司的工廠。而且Enerkem轉過身來還能將生產出的燃料賣給為它提供原料的城市，為這些城市的汽車和卡車提供燃料。

????位于蒙特利爾的Enerkem公司在加拿大運營試點和示范工廠已達十年之久，而它第一座實現量產的工廠計劃于今年年底前在加拿大艾伯塔省埃德蒙頓市開工。隨后，Enerkem計劃至少另外再建兩家工廠：一家位于蒙特利爾；另一家則位于密西西比的龐托托克。后者獲得了美國農業部和能源部提供的1.3億美元財政資金的支持。

????每個工廠僅生產約1000萬加侖汽油，較之汽油需求可謂微不足道。但如果這些工廠運作順暢，那么Enerkem就證明了變垃圾為燃料的技術在商業上是可行的。這對燃料領域的諸多新創企業而言，可謂是一個重大的轉機。（財富中文網）

????譯者：項航

????It just might be time to redefine the word "trash." That's because if a Canadian startup has its way, trash will no longer be worthless. Enerkem, a company backed by giants such as Waste Management and Valero Energy, has a patented process that converts wood, plants, plastics, textiles, and other materials—just about anything except metal, glass and stone—into fuel that we can use to power our cars. The process can also convert garbage into feedstock for industrial chemicals.

????Enerkem takes unrecyclable waste from dumps and converts it into a syngas and then converts the gas through multiple chemical steps into methanol or ethanol. For the last decade, scientists and entrepreneurs have been trying to master the alchemy of turning waste into fuel. The rub has been the process can be very expensive, and often the fuel can't compete with conventional gasoline or with ethanol made from corn. The other problem with some waste to energy technologies is that incineration can be polluting. Also, gasification can require lots of energy, making the process not worth the effort.

????By contrast, Enerkem says its process—which occurs in a contained vessel—minimizes pollution and uses very low temperatures and thus energy to chemically convert the waste to syngas. Says Marie-Hélène Labrie a Vice President at Enerkem: "We think our economics quite are attractive, and at full capacity our fuel will be competitive with corn ethanol and gasoline."

????One appeal of the company's business model is that the potential market is huge. Enerkem estimates that North America produces enough garbage each year to generate the equivalent of about 14 billion gallons of fuel a year—or about 10% of U.S. gasoline demand. On top of that, with dumping fees rising, municipalities are happy to pay to take trash away—negating the company's feedstock costs.

????Another advantage is that Enerkem is locating its plants next to urban landfills, which gives it a huge economic advantage over other biofuel makers. "Transport costs can add 50% to 100% to production costs for other biofuel companies who have to truck corn and other feed stocks to a plant in the countryside and then truck the finished fuel sometimes hundreds of miles back to a market," explains Mark Bunger, research director at Lux Research. "Enerkem has a tremendous advantage because it doesn't have to do that." In Enerkem's case, the city's garbage trucks are already hauling the trash right to where its facilities are. Plus Enerkem can sell the fuel right back to the city which can use it for their buses and trucks.

????The Montreal firm, which has been running pilot and demo plants in Canada for a decade now, is scheduled to open its first commercial scale plant in Edmonton, Alberta, by the end of the year. After that it plans to build at least two others: one in Montreal and the other in Pontotoc, Mississippi, which is backed by $130 million in taxpayer funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy.

????The plants will each produce only about 10 million gallons a year—a pittance compared to gasoline demand. But if the plants work, Enerkem will have proven that the technology is viable on a commercial scale—a major tripping point for startups in the fuel business.