Author: Aviv Dekel

Energy Tech Review selected Co-Energy to be at the TOP 10 Waste to Energy solution providers for 2023.

In it’s recent publication, the magazine featured an interview with Co-Energy’s chairman, Amir Cohen, introducing the work of Co-Energy and our unique perspective on converting waste to a high quality energetic product.

The article notes that “The plants operate continuously, which is significantly more efficient than a batch-wise process, saving energy along the way. It has a sophisticated control system with remote options for preserving process stability in the presence of non-homogeneous waste. The output energy can be stored and released on time per the advanced requirements for integrating renewable energies in the smart electricity grid.”

This is and exciting acknowledgement of Co-Energy’s endeavors in the waste-to-energy market, paving the way as top industry leader. With a track record of successful commercial capabilities and operational plants, we continue to shape the landscape of waste-to-energy.

More news

  • Co-Energy Sponsors the Wall Street Green Summit 2025

    Advisory Board Established

    Co-Energy Commissions Stage #1 of Project Elcon

    Co-Energy and ValVeri AG set up a Joint Venture to Produce Hydrogen from Plastic Waste

    • Or Earth Biochar is part of a large recycling park located in Eastern Israel. Co-Energy’s plant for organic waste operates in Or recycling park and converts organic waste into biochar. Co-Energy’s plant treats 3 ton/hour of wood chips mixed with sludge, to create high quality biochar for various agriculture uses.

    Receive heterogenous organic waste and covert it to a consistent stream of high-quality biochar, suitable for agriculture uses and offsetting the carbon credits.

    Use Co-Energy’s unique and innovative technology (IP protected) with remote control advanced monitoring.

    Use some of the heat generated in the process to maintain reactor temperature, thus operating in a circular-economy process.

    Treat all emissions, whether gas or liquid, in compliance with the most rigorous environmental standards.

    Project was completed in 2022.

    On September 21st, 2022, Co-Energy’s staff participated in PLANETech World 2022 Conference, held at the Rabin Center, Tel Aviv. The conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet with potential partners and investors, showcasing Co-Energy’s technology of converting waste to energy through a circular economy solution and a net negative environment.

    Co-Energy attaches great importance to being a market leader, and thus proactively engage with the climatech industry in front and behind the scenes, taking part in working groups and different forums committed to boost climatech in Israel and globally.

    Co-Energy continues its endeavors to promote climatech. As opposed to other fields of the hi-tech industry, in climatech a surgical pin point solution approach won’t work. It will fail due to either lack of technological scalability or due to lack of financial attractiveness. We at Co-Energy advocate for a holistic point of view on climatech, where a strategic vision that encompasses waste treatment, clean energy production, decarbonization etc. is the best option to present a technology that works in large scales and offers an attractive ROI.

    Companies, investors and governments alike need to choose sustainable solutions not because of some martyred position on the importance of mitigating climate change effects, but because sustainable solutions are the wise financial choice with better economy at their foundations.

    This is Co-Energy’s philosophy on climatech, and it has proven itself time and time again. We appreciate the opportunity to take an active role in the climatech industry and happy to do it in person after two years of communicating remote.

    Aviv Dekel, VP Business Development & Marketing, and Dean Solomon, Co-Founder

    Co-Energy is a proud sponsor of the Wall Street Green Summit 2022, held online during the final week of March 2022. During the fourth day of the Summit on March 31st, in the morning panel dedicated to discussing ClimateTech Solutions and Innovations Day, Co-Energy’s COO Ms. Aviv Dekel presented Co-Energy’s perception on connecting the dots between waste treatment, clean energy production, and de-carbonization.

    In her presentation, Aviv discussed how waste treatment technologies need to breakthrough existing methods, while committing to rigorous environmental standards and abandoning old solutions such as landfilling or incineration. In parallel, clean energy production must present a cost-effective model which meets current challenges such as Hydrogen production at 2$ per Kg, energy storage and fuel production not based on fossils. And the thirds vector of the cleantech industry is the de-carbonization goals, which need to expand, greatly expand, and realize the true potential of net negative technologies.

    And all three of those vectors must work together in a cost-effective business model otherwise they’ll stay as distant dreams. If we can achieve a fast return on investment on a waste-to-energy system that also generates net negative – it’s a win-win-win situation. For sustainable technologies to work they need to be green in profits, not only in environmental terms. Co-Energy’s presentation is available on YouTube, and we look forward to continue the dialogue on the cleantech industry, its challenges and amazing leap forward.

    During the last two weeks of January 2022 Co-Energy’s team members participated in the San Francisco Cleantech Forum 2022. Amongst the fascinating sessions on clean tech ground breaking technologies in a variety of fields and applications, we were excited to showcase Co-Energy’s novel technology which lies at the intersection between sustainable waste treatment, clean energy production and maximizing decarbonization potential.

    The forum provided a wonderful opportunity to meet with partners and colleagues from around the world, and expand Co-Energy’s outreach to North America.

    We look forward to continue being part of the frontline companies who lead the way in the cleantech industry.

    Biochar is a carbon-rich material, made out of organic material like wood, sewage sludge, cattle manure, dry produce etc. or a combination of those. The organic material undergoes a pyrolysis process, in which the material decomposes in an anaerobic environment at about 500°c. It is worth noting that Co-Energy’s plants, working at 500°c are much safer than the usual pyrolytic systems, who operate at 700°c. When we think about cost-effective and useful ways to deal with organic waste – converting it to biochar is by far the best solution.

    Applications of Biochar to Agriculture

    Biochar’s main application in agriculture is to use it as a substrate, a substance that is added to the ground during the preparation phase in order to increase the ability of the root to absorb its necessary nutrition from the soil. Since biochar is a highly porous material, which means that it itself absorbs and maintains water and minerals, the roots grow within it very easily and get their critical materials from the biochar. This characteristic of biochar makes it very efficient and attractive to areas with scarce water conditions, such as deserts or in cases of drought. The biochar actually holds on to water within it, thus reducing the reliance on irrigation, and prevents water from seeping to the sandy ground.

    Biochar vs. Compost

    When considering whether to replace compost with biochar, there are three main rationales that tip the scale in favor of biochar.

    First, it is much easier and faster to produce biochar than compost. Compost is made of very specific types of animal manure, and it can take up to eight months of preparation, not to mention the resources required for its production in terms of infrastructure and sunlight. Biochar, on the other hand, is almost an instant process. By using Co-Energy’s systems, you will be able to convert 1 metric ton of dry organic material into roughly 350Kg of biochar in less than an hour.

    Second, due to the nature of its preparation process, compost must be prepared in completely dry and sunny location. Unfortunately, sometimes rain contaminates the compost preparation process, and the result is an under-prepared compost. While this may sound mild, the consequences of using an under-prepared compost on the ground can actually be quite detrimental to the plant, in such a case the under-prepared compost take away microelements from the plant, instead of feed it to the plant. With biochar there is no such risk. The preparation process of biochar is done in a closed chamber and a controlled environment, no matter what is the weather outside. Biochar helps the plant obtain NPK and is more reliable than compost.

    Third, in terms of health considerations and produce quality, biochar is the cleanest substrate you can add to the ground. Compost can transfer pathogens such as Verticillium Wilt, accelerated dissolution for MITC, fungus and seeds. These unwanted guests are not capable of appearing in biochar, simply because none of them will survive the 500°c environment in which it is made. 

    Carbon Footprint and CO2 Emissions

    Not only does biochar have no carbon footprint, it actually reduces CO2 emissions because it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.  

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIIZQTRU9j0

    We are excited to share a short video clip that presents Co Energy and our activity, including pictures from our system installed at Shachaf plant in Northern Israel.

    We have previously advocated for employing waste-to-energy technologies as means for reducing the huge capacities of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and plastic waste. We have also argued that traditional perceptions about the limits of renewable energy resources should allow innovative and out-pf-the-box thinking, thus regarding MSW and plastic waste as a renewable energy resource.

    Now it is time to take the concept of waste-to-energy to the next level and utilize it in a smart, efficient and financially attractive manner. This is what we at Co-Energy have invested years of research and development into. Of course, on paper all the sustainability technologies sound great. Actually making them so in real life is a completely different story, and it requires expertise, sophistication and creativity.

    Incorporating cutting edge technology while maintaining an outstanding return on investment rate, Co-Energy offers the ideal solution to MSW and plastic waste. The most significant advantages of Co-Energy’s plant are:

    1. Common solutions to MSW and plastic waste are landfilling and combustion. Both raise strong resistance and actually being put out of use by many countries, leaving the problem still unsolved. Co-Energy realizes the principle of thermal decomposition of organic materials in such a way that allows it to efficiently convert organic materials that were previously optimally converted by an un-aerobic or gasification processes. This simplifies the process both in terms of OPEX and CAPEX, putting into use simpler equipment and sophisticated control systems thus reducing safety issues.
    2. Co-Energy’s process is a continues one, and does not rely on batch feeding. Most of the solutions currently available use big and bulky equipment, that is works in batch process. Batch process is less desirable than a continuous process, mainly for the following reasons: in batch processes it is impossible to fully control the composition of gases emitted as a result of the process; batch process requires heating and cooling the reactor before and after each batch; between batches the reactor needs to be cleaned and prepared for the next batch etc. The process in its entirety is unstable and damages the resiliency of the system in whole.
    3. Co-Energy’s plant’s emissions levels are very low, well below the required standard, and they are expected to decrease even further as R&D efforts progress and more improvements are inserted into the equipment.
    4. Co-Energy’s system includes an advances control system that monitors the process in real time and makes sure that the end product is consistently the same. This is not to be taken for granted, not at all. Co-Energy’s system is designed to convert organic waste into energy. Organic waste is by definition not homogeneous and can never be one, which greatly challenges the ability to anticipate let alone control the energetic products. The stability in Co-Energy’s process and consistency of products puts it in the forefront of waste-to-energy reliable technologies.
    5. Co-Energy’s system does not require pre-sorting and pre-separation of the waste and plastics. All MSW and plastics as is will go into the plant. Thus, Co-Energy’s system saves vast amounts of money and time that is commonly wasted on sorting waste to its various components. The residues of the process, which are estimated at around 5% of the MSW, being mostly non-organic materials, metals and glasses, will be omitted automatically from the process and will be transferred to recycling without the costly and prolong pre-treatment phase.

    After many decades of considering sustainable industries as lacking a sound financial basis, it is time to move forward and embrace the new era in which sustainability is profitable. Co-Energy enables this and presents the new generation of waste-to-energy technologies.