A number of local entities are exploring flexible technology endeavors. One company is using their technology to take advantage of on-site waste production. Feed Resource Recovery’s pilot operation provides restaurants and supermarkets the opportunity to use on-site waste processing systems to convert discards food waste into renewable energy and organic fertilizer.
Even quasi-public government entities have gotten in as investors. A funding round last year, by Arlington, MA based Purpose Energy, whose technology recycles brewery waste into energy, attracted Green Mountain Power and Vermont’s Clean Energy Development Fund. The company creates a biodigester that converts the brewing process’ waste byproduct into a burnable gas that can make electricity and be sold to local electric utilities. Meanwhile, the brewery reduces its waste disposal needs and costs.
Why are these endeavors so valuable to investors? One key to their popularity appears to be in their flexibility. The variety of feedstocks makes these technologies applicable in a diversity of industries and installations, allowing for large-scale rollout. Meanwhile, the endeavors also carry strong protection against volatile prices. Producing a usable end product doubles the value of these services, offering businesses a tool to reduce end costs for waste cleanup as well as a source of fuel for future use. Investors are starting to recognize the dual roles of these technologies and are showing real interest in them.