LINK has focused its efforts on a broad array of energy facilities and technologies over the past 15 years, and has provided over 2 million manhours of operational services. Solving the world's energy problems is likely one of the dominant issues facing us today. LINK is committed to being part of the solution, and although we remain involved in a host of alternative energies we have focused on biofuels (non-food-based biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol) as well as cogeneration and trigeneration as having the potential to have the largest short-term positive impact on the energy balance.
Trigeneration is the concept of deriving three (while cogeneration two) different forms of energy from a single primary energy source (fuel). For example, a typical trigeneration plant might include power generation (mostly in the form of electricity), plus heating and cooling. The thermal energy can also be used for dehumidification or process heating. Cogeneration and trigeneration systems are exceedingly more energy efficient than simple cycle (mono-generation) systems, and thus carbon emissions and air pollutants are commensurately lower. In fact, a trigeneration facility can be about 300% more efficient at providing energy than an electric utility.
Biodiesel (mono alkyl esters) is a cleaner-burning and diesel fuel made from natural, renewable sources such as vegetable and animal oils. It has a very high energy balance of between 3.4 and 4.5 (depending on the feedstock used), compared to corn-based ethanol with approximately 1.3 and petroleum (mineral) based diesel of 0.86. Biodiesel also emits a fraction of the carbon and other pollutants when compared to mineral diesel.
Although there has been considerable criticism of corn-based ethanol, we view it as a transitional fuel that will be eventually replaced by cellulosic ethanol and possibly algae-based biodiesel. These biofuels have the potential to displace all petroleum based transportation fuels while dramatically reducing carbon emissions.