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ProRenewables, a new Michigan based energy solutions company, in conjunction with Kalamazoo Valley Community College, introduced today the Green Machine, an innovative, clean energy technology from ElectraTherm, Inc. that employs water no hotter than a cup of tea to produce emission-free electricity on an industrial scale. ProRenewables will deploy ElectraTherm’s heat-to-power generator to industry throughout the Midwest to capture available waste heat.
The Green Machine Advantage
The Green Machine, pioneered and manufactured by Nevada-based ElectraTherm (electratherm.com), is the most economically-viable technology for capturing waste heat to produce electricity in the global marketplace. The technology enables industrial customers to substantially increase energy efficiency, reduce consumption of costly fuel and decrease air emissions. Employing the more robust twin-screw expander in place of costly turbine technology results in low maintenance outlay over the life of the machine, and its 5x5 footprint makes the Machine modular and scalable.
“The Midwest has the manufacturing facilities, the labor pool and the demand to apply the Green Machine abundantly to applications including stationary engines, boilers, geothermal and solar thermal sites,” said Bill Olson, Vice President of Business Development at ElectraTherm. “ElectraTherm sees ProRenewables as a major driver in the U.S. renewable energy market, and we are proud to call them partners.”
ProRenewables, a joint venture launched by The Windquest Group, an investment management firm, and ProServices, a specialized trades contractor, will leverage its rights to sell, install and maintain the Green Machine to support industry throughout Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The Midwest Market
The Midwest is an ideal location for recovered energy generation given the region’s factories, power plants, paper and steel mills, food processing facilities and other heavy industry. Michigan alone produces enough waste heat to power thousands of Green Machines, according to data in a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Approximately two-thirds of the fuel burned to generate power in the United States, and up to half of industrial energy consumption is lost. ProRenewable’s deployment of an energy efficient, emissions-free generator will lower costs and increase the Midwest region’s industrial competitiveness. States and communities throughout the region could meet many of their current energy innovation goals by simply recovering waste heat produced by the region’s manufacturing plants.
The payback period at most installations ranges from two to five years depending on cost of installation relative to electric rates and available financial incentives. While ElectraTherm has shipped Green Machines for applications employing solar thermal, industrial, boiler, and geothermal heat, the demonstration unit unveiled today at the community college’s Michigan Technical Education Center is the first Green Machine installed in Michigan and the Midwest.
“Waste heat is the largest untapped energy source in the Midwest,” said Chris Schauer, Chief Executive Officer of Pro Services. “With its short payback period, an investment in the Green Machine makes good business sense and it’s the right thing to do for the environment.”
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