ME2C Environmental has developed innovative emissions control technologies to help coal, oil and gas energy markets

ME2C Environmental has developed innovative emissions control technologies to help coal, oil and gas energy markets

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Midwest Energy Emissions Corp (OTCQB:MEEC), known by its trade name ME2C Environmental, is on an upward trajectory. The company helps coal-fired utilities and other energy providers optimize operations, meet compliance regulations, and reduce costs in the area of mercury emissions control. Between July 2020 and January 2021, the Corsicana, Texas-based environmental technologies company signed agreements with four of the largest US coal-fired power producers, each of whom were defendants named in the company’s 2019 lawsuit. With a solid customer base for their mercury emissions business and growth opportunities in new technologies, the company’s potential recurring, high-margin revenue model puts it on a steady growth track for at least the next five years. “At a 70% conversion rate of potential customers into supply/licensing contracts, the company anticipates that recurring annual revenue could exceed $100 million by 2023,” analysts at Taglich Brothers said in a recent note to clients. ME2C is the commercial extension of over $60 million poured into research and development and many years of in-field testing. The company has gained strong credibility as it has worked with coal-fired utilities across America to provide the best mercury emissions capture technology, known as Sorbent Enhancement Additive (SEA), an innovative, two-part approach to mercury capture.   With an eye on long-term growth, ME2C is actively working to introduce new technologies that address coal ash clean-up and wastewater remediation from coal, methane gas emissions from the oil and gas power industries, and improve the processing of rare earth elements. The company believes US methane emissions represent a $10 billion addressable opportunity for its new technologies. Proactive sat down with ME2C Environmental founder CEO and President Richard MacPherson to discover how the company has a wide reach of capabilities that can be beneficial to multiple facets of the energy industry. MacPherson founded Midwest Energy Emissions in 2008 to commercialize SEA technologies and launch the patented emissions control technologies across the coal-fired utility markets in the US and Canada.   Proactive: How does ME2C help energy providers and coal-fired utilities with solutions and emissions control technology? Richard MacPherson: The company provides a highly effective, patented process to significantly reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. Our patented SEA approach to mercury capture is specifically tailored for each application to match a customer’s fuel type and boiler configuration for optimal results. This high-grade sorbent enhancement additive (SEA) is injected into the boiler in minimal amounts and works in tandem with our proprietary sorbent products to ensure maximum mercury capture with superior economics compared to typical mercury removal techniques in use today. This tailored approach has the added advantage of substantially reducing the impact of mercury capture on balance-of-plant systems and operations. Our team’s complete understanding of the complexity of mercury–sorbent–flue gas interactions and chemisorption mechanisms allows for optimal control strategy and product formulation and when combined with a thorough proprietary audit of the plant, along its configuration and instrumentation, results in the most effective mercury capture achievable. US power plants are going to consume 16% more coal this year than in 2020, and then another 3% in 2022, according to the Energy Information Administration. Does this denote a bigger need for ME2C’s mercury emission control solutions? With gas prices on the rise, coal usage is expected to surge significantly. In addition, the current administration’s focus on climate change will bring more stringent regulations for harmful emissions, including mercury, methane, and emissions that leach into soil and water. Through our full scope of technologies, ME2C Environmental can address these issues facing the power generation sector. Our expertise in sorbent technologies, chemisorption, and power plant operations allows us to be a strong partner with these utilities. The SEA approach for mercury capture is currently in use throughout most of the coal-fired US fleet (over 44% are expected to be using our patented system). This technology is the best alternative to mercury capture available today providing the utility with significant cost-savings long-term through use of less material going into the boiler and minimal effects to the overall balance of plant impact and equipment. Further, the SEA technology maintains the quality of the coal ash, a byproduct produced by coal-fired emissions that can be sold as a recyclable commodity to other industries, such as construction. Overall, our approach provides significant cost-savings and potential revenue stream. This year the company announced the development of new emissions capture technologies for methane gas abatement in the oil and gas industries and rebranded to ME2C Environmental. What does this means for the company? We rebranded this year to “ME2C Environmental” to reintroduce ourselves to the power industry as an expanded environmental technologies company. Our core business will remain in mercury emissions capture, but the strong know-how and expertise in sorbent technologies translates well to other areas of emissions control, including methane emissions produced by the oil and gas industry. When we introduced our SEA approach roughly 15 years ago, the US was beginning to look at reducing harmful coal-fired emissions. We helped this industry significantly reduce these harmful emissions. As power generation in the US has evolved and expanded, so has the need for our technology and expertise. We are a small company with a wide reach of capabilities that can be beneficial to multiple facets of the energy industry. ME2C has 42 patents and 20 patent-pending applications in North America, Europe and Asia and has taken legal action against energy companies that have tried to utilize ME2C’s patented processes without a license. The four utility defendants — Vistra Corp, NRG, American Electric Power, and Talen Energy — have struck license agreements with ME2C and have since been removed from the lawsuit. Do you expect other infringers to settle with ME2C? These four major defendants who have entered into agreements are among the largest coal-fired power producers in the country and positioned as market leaders. We are currently in communication with other utilities to reach licensing or commercial solutions. Our focus remains a business-first approach, which means that we would prefer to work directly with these utilities as their supply and technology partners. Through supplying plants directly, we provide a license to operate our patented technologies, as well as support their plant’s operations through maintenance and service - at no additional cost. We fully expect to grow our customer base through either license agreements or supply contracts with additional infringers, some of whom are already in contact with Caldwell, Cassady, and Curry. The Refined Coal Companies named in our July 2019 lawsuit represent a very significant financial opportunity to restore some of the revenue lost over the past nine years that these companies have benefitted from our patented mercury emissions technologies. Do you have any major deal or joint venture partnership on the anvil which will bolster the company’s technology? We recently announced our affiliation with Eleclear Technologies, which is a new technologies firm based in Alabama that will be initially funded with $1.2 million of new capital on a 70/30 basis between Dr Scott A Drummond and ME2C Environmental. We will provide technical and research direction, along with the commercialization of the anticipated technologies. The initial technologies now being developed by Eleclear will move to full pilot-scale testing in the near future. We will continue to update the market on these exciting new developments that will provide an additional revenue stream for ME2C Environmental, as well as innovative and affordable solutions that address critical environmental challenges within the US power industry. ME2C will manage the commercialization, as well as the development efforts going forward, as part of the Eleclear arrangement. What is ME2C’s business outlook as a dominant environmental technologies firm? We are a very different company in 2021 than we were just 12-18 months ago. With key announcements of new license agreements through our patent portfolio and a stronger balance sheet, we move through 2021 with a growing investor base, along with new technologies and growth opportunities. Our success thus far has been based on the strong support of our staff, who have remained with our company for the last several years, and our strong partnerships with our loyal customers. Starting now, moving into the next six to 12 months, our company will see organic growth quarter on quarter as we maintain and increase our core customer base. Next year, we will introduce licensing opportunities for our new technologies. Beyond the US, our technologies are relevant, and we have had key discussions with groups in Southeast Asia who will be facing regulations coming down in the next three to five years. We expect to continue to grow and adapt our technologies, as needed, to face current environmental concerns. What are some of the catalysts for ME2C Environmental? Our growth will be marked by realizing the value of our patented technologies through growing our customer base with coal-fired power plants. Additional markers will include strong results from our field tests in our new technologies currently under development. We also expect to reach agreements with other infringers of our patented technologies specifically including the refined coal operators. The timeframe for these drivers is expected to be within the next six to 12 months and onward. Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive

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