Hawaii Public Radio "Carbon Diversion - From Research To Commercialization Right Here In Hawaii"

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 5-6 p.m. HPR KIPO FM 89.3
CARBON DIVERSION - FROM RESEARCH TO COMMERCIALIZATION RIGHT HERE IN HAWAII

With
Mike Lurvey - Carbon Diversion, Inc.
Michael Antal - University of Hawaii
Dick Cox - OTTED


PLAY BROADCAST and AFTERSHOW HERE

Revolutionary garbage to 'gold' technology ready for market

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - June 30, 2006 by Linda Chiem

Michael Lurvey is trying to turn garbage into gold.

Lurvey is CEO and president of Carbon Diversion, an Oahu-based high technology waste conversion company that is trying to make money out of the effort to cut the amount of trash that ends up in Hawaii's overflowing landfills.

Carbon Diversion uses a locally developed and patented technology called flash carbonization to turn bulky yard waste and junk like old tires into biocarbon, charcoal or electricity.

Flash Carbonization was developed by researchers at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii at Manoa several years ago. Carbon Diversion has an exclusive license to the technology for the state and a large part of the Pacific.

Lurvey has worked on strategic economic development plans in the Marshall Islands as well as French Polynesia and has worked jointly with researchers at UH-Manoa for years on achieving sustainability through renewable energy.

"We believe that this technology is world-changing and revolutionary," he said. "My dream is to partner with as many people as I can to just clean things up.

"We divert the waste stream going into the landfills and create a value product. Instead of it being garbage, it becomes something sellable and usable."

The green waste is loaded into the electrically powered reactor, whose contents are then pressurized and heated. The materials are "cooked" for about 30 minutes to one hour depending on its moisture level and density. The resulting biocarbon or carbon charcoal can be marketed for cooking, potting soil, and water or air filtration.

"I really believe that there's all these different fields that have use and demand for this," Lurvey said. "We're developing [it] to produce power out of our waste and we'll have a completely natural resource."

The flash carbonization process burns cleaner so it emits no greenhouse gases. The steam that is emitted can be used to generate electricity, but that part of the system is still in early development.

While burning trash and reusing what's left has been around for years, Lurvey improved on the technology by making it portable and user-friendly. The reactor stands about nine feet tall and three feet in diameter. The entire system would require about half an acre of space for operations and two or three operators to load and run the machine.

Lurvey said the technology's environmental benefits are multifaceted. Cleaner steam emissions make for less air pollution. It increases recycling among industrial companies and is an alternative to wind and solar energy as a renewable energy source. It eliminates the amount of green waste going to landfills, which helps companies save money on disposal services.

For the last several months, Lurvey and his team have been quietly doing test runs of the system at Campbell Industrial Park in Kapolei. So far, they have produced several tons of charcoal from waste kiawe.

"It is successful," Lurvey said. "I wanted to make sure we got everything right before I said anything to anyone."

Lurvey said he is working with organizations to introduce the system to developing nations.

"They should be able to use their own renewable resources so they can generate a steady income," he said. "I like to say that we're looking for the triple-bottom line business. We're definitely not averse to being profitable but we want to be socially responsible."

lchiem@bizjournals.com | 955-8042

Revolutionary Clean Technology to Reduce Landfills by 30%, Produce High Grade Carbon and Electricity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oahu, Hawaii – June 18, 2006 – Carbon Diversion, Inc., a high tech waste conversion company, has successfully operated a new technology that can efficiently and effectively convert everything from tree trimmings to agricultural and biomedical waste and tires into valuable carbon products which could reduce landfills by 30%. The revolutionary technology, called Flash Carbonization^TM, can also be modified for co-generation to produce electricity.

Over the next several weeks and months, the Flash Carbonization^TM technology will be on display at the Campbell Industrial Park, Kapolei Oahu Hawaii to visiting members from state government agencies, the international business community and private investors.

Carbon Diversion Inc., a company dedicated to sustainability and renewable energy, pioneers the Flash Carbonization^TM process, patented in 2003.

On Wednesday, June 7, Carbon Diversion ran the official ‘first run’ of the Flash Carbonization^TM process at the Campbell Industrial Park Kapolei Oahu. Kiawi wood that otherwise would have gone to the over-capacity landfill was converted into lump charcoal. The charcoal is being sold as part of the local cooking charcoal supply.

“We believe this technology is world-changing and are committed to servicing the global community,” said Carbon Diversion CEO Michael Lurvey. “Our mission is to be a leader in triple-bottom line business, proving that we can make a better world for our children – The goal is to be responsible for where products go after they’ve been used. At the same time, we can extend the value of natural resources that have traditionally been thought of as waste.”

The Flash Carbonization^TM process relies on controlled burns at high pressure to dramatically increase carbonization speed and quality. The result is wood (biomass) can be converted into charcoal as quickly as 30 minutes, not 3 to 10 days, and has 200% more energy value than current commercial technologies. To begin the Flash Carbonization^TM process, wood is loaded with a crane and packed into a vertical reactor chamber. The chamber is sealed and a flash fire is ignited at the base of the chamber. Heat released by the fire triggers the transformation of wood into charcoal, sped up by a continuous flow of oxygen being pumped into the sealed reactor. Many organic materials as well as tires and biomedical waste can substitute wood. The Flash Carbonization^TM process eliminates greenhouse gases by converting the exhaust into steam. With the addition of a turbine, the steam can produce electricity.

The reactor used in the Flash Carbonization^TM process stands nine feet tall, three feet in diameter and requires only a ½ acre for operations. Unlike larger refineries, these reactors are easily transported, have lower capital requirements and are neighborhood friendly to serve small and rural communities. The reactors systems are simple to use, requiring a minimum of two on-site operators.

Carbon Diversion, situated in Hawaii, is in an extremely strategic position to service partners in North America as well as Pacific Rim Countries including Asia, Australia and the smaller Countries of the Pacific Basin.

“The reactor and entire system have been designed to be portable and scalable – we’ve talked about a mobile model for developing communities that is mounted on a truck and driven around from one village to the next,” Lurvey said.

Carbon Diversion plans to launch operations in Hawaii and seeks strong partners for expansion. As part of a dedication to bring the technology to the greatest number of markets, the company’s strategy is to lease the technology to partners thereby reducing the upfront capital investment.

The technology is an ideal solution as a renewable energy source in developing countries and is a needed recycling system for industrialized nations (green waste in the United States accounts for 1/3 of the waste stream and emits green house emissions when it decomposes).

There are also some important high end uses for the technology. Coconut shells, for example, are the source for one of the highest grades of activated carbon in the world, which are used in liquid and gaseous filtering applications and by the EPA to clean up environmental hazards.

Carbon Diversion, Inc. is on the path to becoming a leader in waste conversion technologies. The company is committed to discovering, developing and promoting sustainability and renewable energy through the use of the Flash Carbonization^TM process.


CONTACT:

Michael Lurvey, CEO
Carbon Diversion, Inc.
85-979 Farrington Highway, Suite C
Waianae, HI 96792
Phone: 808-671-1858
Fax: 808-671-1859

Email: info@carbondiversion.com

http://www.carbondiversion.com


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