ATP-Funded Green Process Technologies - NIST Advanced ...

Commercial-scale sorting of titanium alloys started in 2005. The sorting of aluminum
alloys started in 2006 and superalloy sorting is expected to commence in 2008.
Public benefits to industrial customers from the unambiguous sorting of scrap alloys
as well as benefits to the general public were quantified on the basis of conservatively
estimated nonferrous scrap sorting volumes of less than 2 million pounds in 2006
and reaching over 70 million pounds per year by 2015. Public returns on ATP’s
investment over the 2002–15 study period are summarized through performance
metrics that indicate net present values of $20–$25 million and benefits of $11–$14
for every dollar invested. Private benefits to wTe Corporation were excluded.
Economic performance metrics reflect green benefits and cost savings from the use of
ATP-funded green technologies in the metals, aerospace, and automotive industries.
OVERVIEW OF GREEN BENEFITS
The implicit proposition underlying ATP investments in green process technologies is
that innovative new technologies can be used to reduce harmful emissions and
dependence on imported petroleum and, at the same time, reduce costs and increase
U.S. industrial competitiveness. This proposition was supported by two detailed case
studies of ATP investments. Public benefits were conservatively projected, using
actual market prices that do not fully internalize the costs of pollution and the
growing U.S. reliance on imported petroleum. Should externalities become further
internalized into market price structures, even higher levels of benefits may be linked
to ATP-funded green technologies.
Beyond the detailed studies, mini-studies of three additional ATP-funded green
projects also point to emerging patterns of success, validating ATP’s implicit
proposition that harmful emission reductions can be achieved along with increased
industrial competitiveness. ATP-funded molecular gate technology for natural gas
purification (Engelhard Corp.) and ATP-funded plastics sorting technology (MBA
Polymers) have achieved commercialization and profitable operations in competitive
markets for natural gas recovery and engineered plastics recycling. The ATP
investment in high-intensity ultraviolet lamp systems, while at a precommercial stage,
potentially will reduce levels of harmful mercury and lead concentrations in postindustrial
and post-consumer waste streams.
ATP’s early leadership in supporting the development of high-risk, innovative, green
process technologies is increasingly being validated through recent investment trends
in the agricultural and chemical industries.
Large corporations that are industry leaders in the agricultural and chemical sectors
are able to bring about industrial-scale changes from the predominant utilization of
petroleum-derived feedstock to the use of plant-based feedstocks for chemicals.
Reflecting the growing realization that carbon is carbon—in both petroleum-derived
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ATP-FUNDED GREEN PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES