Dr Jose Sifontes

Dr Jose Sifontes is arguably Florida's highest qualified biomass energy expert. Ironcially, he began his professional life as a petroleum engineer with Mobil. Sifontes, 57, holds no less than nine  degrees, including a Phd in agricultural and biological engineering. To round things out he also holds a degree in theology.

He has spent the last few years developing his own patented bioreactor system to transfer solid and liquid waste into commercially viable quantities of gas and other byproducts.

He used his own money to develop a small commercial plant, located at the Alachua County Waste Transfer Station outside Gainesville. When he ran out of money, the TRDA was so impressed by  what he had already achieved that they gave him the financial assistance to allow him to complete a successful pilot project.

Sifontes says he can take solid municipal waste, or horse manure, and convert it into energy-producing biomass in a matter of three weeks - a procss which would normally take hundreds or thousands of years if buried underground in landfills.

Sifontes' design uses a bacterial solution to decompose the waste material in three bioreactor tanks heated to 135 degrees. The gas produced by the reactor is clean burning and virtually odorless. The Fueling Station can vouch for this as we recently observed a demonstration at Sifontes' plant. It can also be compressed into cylinders. Sifontes runs a pick-up truck on two cylinders of gas with the energy equivalent of 15 gallons of gasoline.

As a byproduct he produces a compost which has proven in tests to be more effective, and cheaper, than the costly peat moss the U.S. imports from Canada. Leftover liquid from the process can also be used as a 'soil tonic,' or 'compost tea,' which can be sprayed on plants to enhance growth and also acting as a 'bio-film' to protect against insects.

Sifontes believes his system could fuel entire communities, especially in Ocala horse country, which produces 5,000 cubic yards of manure a day. Horse farms currently dump the unwanted manure in sink holes.

So far no-one has taken him up on his idea. Though Alachua waste treatment officials have shown considerable interest in his design, the county is locked into a contract through 2018 to ship its waste to a landfill in Union County.

Meanwhile, Gainesville is looking to increase its energy supply with a $600 million investment in a 'clean coal' plant. "I could produce that energy at no cost," Sifontes says.

He is currently talking to one city near Ocala about installing his system, as well as the developers of a large, new housing project near Orlando.

Officials at the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA), believe the Sifontes bioreactor has great commercial potential. "Over time, the environmentally-friendly device pays for itself because it transforms existing waste into fuel sources that would otherwise need to be purchased," it stated in its latest TechReach report.

Here are five reasons why The Fueling Station believes Dr Jose Cifontes deserves to be considered a
Florida Energy Innovator:

1./ his bioreactor disposes of unwanted yard and municipal waste as well as horse muck in an environmentally friendly and energy-useful way
2./  the process is highly sustainable and uses only about 10 per cent of the energy it produces
3./ it creates a renewable source of energy in the process
4./ it produces organic byproducts for agricultural use
5./ it reduces CO2 released into the atmosphere due to peat mining

Comments

[scottcanfield]

We have a total of 250 thousand cubic yardsof horse manure we would like to get rid of yearly.

[Mingly Caminero]

Hola Primo! Que impresionante esta este articulo acerca de tu talento! Que bendicion tener a un gran cientifico en la familia. Me encantaria saber mas de tus logros y visitarles para irme contigo todo un dia en un "fieldtrip cientifico"
Te apreciamos y queremos mucho!