Waltham, Mass.-based Biometics, an engineering, architectural design, construction management, validation, CGMP consulting and project management services company that serves the biopharmaceutical and biomass conversion industries.

“Most of our control systems were actually designed for use by the oil industry. They have excellent methods for measuring flows and masses. But now, we need that for solids and slurries. We have to find control systems that handle, or are tolerant of, the presence of those solids.”

Fitzpatrick says that we are moving into a new phase in history, unknowingly paralleling Stokes’ view that Clean Tech is actually the sixth wave of industrial innovation. “There are three strikes against petro fuels: it’s running out, it causes global warming and it tends to be located behind enemy lines.”

Change is inevitable, and for Fitzpatrick, change means dealing with biomass, which means solids. “We need to be able to monitor and control these new types of streams in an efficient and economic way. We deal with high temperatures, acids and erosion. Wood feeds often come in with a high degree of sand and grit and the technology isn’t there to deal with it. That’s a drawback.”

At the end of the day, it comes back to Bechtold’s eco-economics.

“Energy is cheap as chips right now,” says Stokes. “It’s a no brainer that we treat it with contempt. But that is going to change.”