Maverick Biofuels is Now Maverick Synfuels
Maverick Synfuels > News > Maverick Biofuels is Now Maverick Synfuels
Company poised for growth in the alternative fuels and chemicals industry…
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (January 22, 2014) — Maverick Biofuels, a leader in alternative fuels and chemicals production technology, has changed its name to Maverick Synfuels to reflect the company’s growth strategy for producing synthetic fuels and chemicals from low-value feedstocks and waste streams. Maverick builds modular production platforms based on unique combinations of thermochemical and methanol synthesis technology. Maverick’s modular plants can be deployed in oil fields, dairy farms and landfills to convert methane-rich waste gas, including associated gas, biogas and flare gas, into high-value transportation fuels and specialty chemicals.
Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2011 over 600,000,000 metric tons of methane gas was emitted into the atmosphere, which accounted for about 9% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is emitted by natural sources and from human activities such as landfills, petroleum production, wastewater treatment plants and animal agriculture biodigesters. Pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane on climate change is over 20 times greater than carbon dioxide.
Many sources of methane-rich gas streams are too small to justify construction of large commercial plants to produce final products, or are located in remote areas where distribution is not economically viable. Maverick’s modular production platform offers the first small-scale solution that can be deployed at thousands of methane generating sources across the U.S.
The flexibility of the technology flexibility allows methane to be converted into methanol and then into a variety of on-site usable products, or the methanol can be easily transported to nearby larger facilities and converted to higher value products such as biodiesel. Biodiesel producers consume over 100 million gallons of methanol annually. Maverick’s small-scale methanol production can significantly increase the utilization of unused methane, creating millions of gallons of clean, usable products. The more methanol Maverick can produce, the further we reduce our demand for imported oil and other fossil fuels.
Another aspect of Maverick’s Olefinity™ process involves producing methanol and then converting methanol to olefins, and olefins to higher value products. Olefins are the building blocks of a number of useful products, including mixed-alcohol fuels, diesel fuel, jet fuels, and polymers.
The use of methanol as a transportable intermediate allows Maverick to work with feedstock suppliers in relatively remote locations. Maverick can produce methanol using a number of relatively small “spoke” production facilities located at or near the feedstock supply. The methanol is transported to a larger central “hub” facility where it is converted into final products. Co-locating production with the feedstock supply drives down the cost of the feedstock, while converting methanol at a central hub provides economy of scale.
“Maverick has evolved from being a biomass-based company to a company that can convert multiple low-value bio and fossil based feedstocks into higher-value liquid transportation fuels and chemicals,” said Sam Yenne, CEO of Maverick Synfuels.
Maverick currently operates demonstration plants in Florida and Colorado, and a research and development laboratory based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Maverick’s development facilities and engineering teams are designed to support commercial project deployment. Maverick has completed initial engineering studies at the pilot scale and plans to construct its first small-scale commercial plant shortly after completing the methanol pilot trial at the Denver, CO facility. The engineering efforts for the first plant will be leveraged as Maverick designs future plants. Use of modular components will facilitate scale-up while reducing technical and financial risk.
Maverick is pursuing a business model that includes licensing its technology to strategic partners, along with building and operating production refineries with strategic partners.
About Maverick Synfuels
Maverick Synfuels commercializes technology for converting low-value feedstocks, such as biomass, municipal solid waste (MSW), and methane-rich gas streams, into high-value petroleum-replacing transportation fuels and chemicals. Maverick’s unique hub-and-spoke distributed production model creates opportunities for low-cost feedstock resources, reduces capital requirements, and minimizes technical and financial risk. The company is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. For more information, call 919-749-8717; e-mail info@mavericksynfuels.com; or visit <a href=”http://www.mavericksynfuels.com”>http://www.mavericksynfuels.com.
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Media Contact:
Karl von Gunten (919) 931-1434
kvongunten@mavericksynfuels.com