Sierra Energy
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Waste management, Renewable energy |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Mike G. Hart |
| Headquarters | Davis, California , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Mike G. Hart (founder, CEO) |
| Products | FastOx gasification technology, waste-to-energy solutions |
| Parent | Sierra Railroad |
| Website | www |
Sierra Energy is a privately held company specializing in the development of waste-to-energy gasification solutions through its FastOx technology. It functions as a subsidiary of Sierra Railroad and is headquartered within the Sierra Energy Research Park located in Davis, California. The company’s inaugural operational plant is situated in Monterey, California.
History
The FastOx gasification process was originally developed by Bruce Claflin and John Jasbinsek, engineers formerly with Kaiser Steel, aiming to minimize emissions during steel manufacturing. Following the 1983 shutdown of Kaiser’s Fontana facility, Chris Kasten, Claflin’s grandson, proposed adapting this technology for waste conversion during a presentation at UC Davis' Graduate School of Management in 2003. Mike G. Hart, CEO of a regional railroad and a competition judge, identified its commercial promise.
Hart secured the rights to the technology and established Sierra Energy in 2004 with the objective of generating clean fuel for his railway locomotives. In 2009, the U.S. Army selected this gasification technology for evaluation at its Renewable Energy Testing Center, supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
With backing from the California Energy Commission, Sierra Energy constructed its first commercial FastOx gasifier by 2013 at U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey, California. This installation represented the DoD’s initial procurement of waste-to-energy equipment. Two years later, in 2015, Sierra was awarded a $100,000 federal grant from the Defense Logistics Agency to investigate hydrogen production from municipal waste streams. In 2016, SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners reportedly acquired a minority stake in Sierra’s parent company, Sierra Railroad.
The Fort Hunter Liggett gasifier, capable of processing 20 metric tons daily, was completed in 2017 to evaluate outputs such as electricity and renewable diesel fuels. In 2019, Sierra Energy successfully closed a $33 million Series A financing round led by Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Technology: FastOx gasification
The FastOx gasifier developed by Sierra Energy is an adaptation of a traditional blast furnace that transforms almost any type of waste into synthesis gas. Unlike conventional blast furnaces that utilize air, this system injects oxygen and steam, achieving temperatures around 2000 °C to decompose waste materials without generating ash or landfill pollutants. The design is modular for scalability.
Scale up
The company’s first operational facility, created in partnership with the U.S. Army and the California Energy Commission at Fort Hunter Liggett, commenced testing in January 2020. This plant converts biomass and municipal solid waste into electricity and renewable diesel fuel. Sierra Energy is progressing with its flagship Pathfinder system, engineered to handle up to 50 metric tons of waste per day.