Texas A&M University
IN-2: Innovation 2

Pre- and post-consumer food scraps from Sbisa Dining Hall (the second largest in the United States) are collected and transported to a demonstration plant (5 ton/day) owned by Terrabon in Bryan, TX. There, using a mixed culture of microorganisms, the food scraps are anaerobically fermented to carboxylate salts (e.g., calcium acetate). The carboxylate salts are concentrated and thermally converted to ketones (e.g., acetone). The ketones are hydrogenated and converted to alcohols (e.g., isopropanol). Finally, the alcohols are catalytically converted to hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline and jet fuel. This technology is innovative because it creates a high-value product (liquid transportation fuels) from the food waste. Most organizations that use food scraps produce low-value products, such as compost or methane. The Terrabon demonstration plant is the only plant of its kind in the world. Because of the successful testing at the demonstration level, the company plans to build the first commercial plant (220 ton/day) in 2012.