Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
11
-
May 9,
2011
Teru Talk
by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
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articles.
Teru's Trash
Talk
We've got
advanced wastewater treatment
plants (WWTPs) all across the
country. Many by now have
advanced beyond large aerated
sumps to in-vessel anaerobic
digestion (AD). And a great
many of those now
collect, clean and combust the
methane rich producer
gas.
Meanwhile,
"Us Users" continue to flush
gooey used cooking oil and
grease down the sink, because,
well, because we can. That
grease gloms (technical sewer
guy word) onto starch from our
food waste and makes some
seriously sticky stuff, costing
gazillions on the way to the
WWTP when sewer pipes clog and
wrecking havoc at the plant if
it makes it that
far.
Teru Talk is
seeing rapid implementation
globally of
co-digestion, adding
that grease and food waste
directly into the main AD
reactor at the WWTP.
Apparently, the nutrients feed
the bugs and make a great deal
more biogas than can be
produced just from the sewage
break-down … which makes sense,
because that stuff
already went through a human
"digester", making
biogas.
Now, some
serious pre-treatment can be
required, especially in
removing packaging from
out-of-date food from
supermarkets, and it looks like
an enzyme bath can help get the
Clumpy Stuff (more techy
jargon) broken down to where
the bugs can a better
bite.
One man's
trash …
Hey
Rube!
CT Companies:
Quit winkin' in the dark. Get
some wiz kid to revamp that
website and bring it up to
date. Grit your corporate teeth
and start sending out those
unsociable-media tweet
thingies. Think about what you
have accomplished and put out a
Press Release. If you need help
with managing this mind-numbing
info-flow, ask. We need to
Stand Up
Tall.
The Week's
News
Native
Energy Offers
40K tons Carbon Offsets from
Manure-to-Biogas
Project
NativeEnergy will sell up to
40,000 tons of carbon offset
credits originating from its
49th "Help Build" carbon
management effort, the methane
avoidance Northeast Farm
Separation Project.
05/06/2011
UK DfT Study: Used Cooking Oil
was Number One Biofuel
Feedstock
The United Kingdom (UK)
Department for Transport's
(DfT) first Low Carbon Fuel
newsletter announces
availability of the
Administration's Biofuels
statistics for the record year
2010-2011.
05/06/2011
KiOR and Catchlight Sign
Advanced Biofuels Offtake
Agreement
Advanced biofuels company KiOR
has signed a conditional
offtake agreement with the
Chevron / Weyerhaeuser 50-50%
joint venture company
Catchlight Energy (CLE).
05/06/2011
PNNL's Renamed Institute for
Integrated Catalysis to Refocus
on
Biofuels
The US Department of Energy's
Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL) Institute for
Integrated Catalysis (IIC) is
now focused on developing
catalysts that can efficiently
make fuels from alternate
feedstocks such as biomass and
carbon dioxide, store
electrical energy in chemical
bonds, and increase fuel
efficiency and cut emissions at
the same time.
05/05/2011
Massachusetts Draft RPS Biomass
Regs Submitted for Legislative
Review
Massachusetts Governor Deval
Patrick's office has announced
that the Department of Energy
Resources (DOER) submitted
Renewable Portfolio Standard
Biomass (RPS Biomass) final
draft regulations to the
Legislature's Joint Committee
on Telecommunications,
Utilities, and Energy for its
30-day review and comment.
05/05/2011
BioGenset Pilot Project
Launched in New York
Biodiesel Industries (BI) will
administer and Sprague Energy
will manage participation in
the BioGenset pilot project to
promote use of biodiesel to
fuel back-up generator sets
(gensets).
05/04/2011
CE-CERT Collaboration with Thai
Institute on Steam Hydro
Gasification
The University
of California, Riverside,
Bourns College of Engineering,
Center for Environmental
Research & Technology
(CE-CERT) has signed a research
and development collaborative
agreement with the Thailand
Institute of Scientific and
Technological Research to focus
on steam hydro gasification.
05/04/2011
Avantium Starts Bioplastics
Production in the
Netherlands
Avantium has
begun bioplastics production at
their polyester plant on the
Chemelot site in Geleen, the
Netherlands.
05/04/2011
UK's Carbon Trust and Siemens
Launch Energy Efficiency
Financing
An Energy Efficiency Financing
program is now available in the
United Kingdom (UK) for
business customers and
suppliers.
05/03/2011
DTSC Schedules Green Chemistry
Initiative
Meeting
California's Department of
Toxic Substance Control (DTSC)
has scheduled a meeting of the
Green Ribbon Science Panel
(GRSP) in Sacramento on
Thursday, May 5, 2011 in the
afternoon, and Friday, May 6th,
all day.
05/03/2011
DOE Hosts Global Biofuel
Sustainability
Webinar
The US
Department of Energy (DOE) will
host a webinar on May 17, 2011
from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
EDT, entitled "Sustainability
for the Global Biofuels
Industry: Minimizing Risks and
Maximizing Opportunities."
05/03/2011
NC Biofuels Center Awards
$1.6MM in Advanced Biofuels
Grants
The Biofuels Center of North
Carolina has awarded $1.6
million to 15 project
developers to accelerate
commercialization of advanced
liquid biofuels.
05/02/2011
Minnesota Plans Waste-to-Energy
Workshop for Food and Livestock
Industries
The Minnesota Department of
Commerce's Office of Energy
Security will partner with
state, federal and
institutional organizers to
stage a waste-to-energy
workshop on May 24, 2011.
05/02/2011
UK's Environment Agency Issues
Waste Incineration
Guidance
The United Kingdom's
Environment Agency has released
a useful short guidance
document designed to help
agency staff differentiate
between strict waste
incineration and
"co-incineration" when
classifying a facility under
the Waste Incineration
Directive (WID).
05/02/2011
The Week's
Action
Items
Due 07/29/2011: Proposals to
Supply 42 Million Gallons of
Biodiesel to
HECO
Hawaiian Electric Company
(HECO) has released a request
for proposals (RFP) to supply
up to forty-two (42) million
gallons of sustainably
produced, renewable biofuel per
year to fuel the Kahe
Generating Station (KPP) for a
term of two (2) years to
commence as early as July 2014.
05/06/2011
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