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Teru Talk News
 

Teru Talk Newsletter           Follow TeruTalk on Twitter

Volume I, Issue 14 -  May 30, 2011 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "Terú") 

 

Teru's Trash Talk 
 

Power from the People … that's right, food waste power, Doggy Bag power, supermarket dumpster power and poop sludge power. Just LOOK at all the goody old stuff we throw away! Cities around the globe are wising up to the Money to be made by converting that goo to biogas, instead of just, well, flushing it.

 

Municipalities are setting up collection programs to tap thousands of "sources" for cast-off table scraps and out-of-day Pork Pies (really, there's this UK project…). Pre-treat with enzymes, and almost anything can be digested to make biogas. Wastewater Treatment Plants are figuring out how to add 10% of waste Fat-Oil-Grease (that's FOG) right into their big Digester tanks. After a mere decade of due diligence, DC Water's gonna pay Norway's Cambi to do their hydro-treat magic on Our Nation's capitol flushings. "Co-Digestion": our Word of the Day.

 

Just like all the old Petro refineries sitting half-idle around the states, we've got a whole lot of out-of-date wastewater treatment facilities needing attention. Throwing money at old infrastructure may not make sense, but an upgrade for co-digestion that nets enough Biogas to bring about a five year pay-back starts looking pretty serious.

 

But here's a thought: all those plastic collection containers will need cleaning. Try to use "natural" cleaners that won’t kill off the very (anaerobic digestion) bugs you are feeding.

 

Hey Rube!

 

On this Memorial Day, please honor the members of our Armed Forces who have served our country and fought for our freedom.

 

The Week's Extra Reading

 

Teru's new article, External Verification of Conversion Technologies, takes the Hamilton Project proposal to the next level and offers a plan designed to remove the key barrier to CT advancement. 

 

Also, don't miss the nice things  people have been saying about our website!

 

The Week's News

 

Dow Converts Waste Plastic to Natural Gas Equivalent Energy

In kiln tests at Dow Chemical's Midland, Michigan facility, thermal conversion of waste sheet plastic recovered 96% of the available energy. 05/27/2011

 

UK's Farmgen Switches On First Anaerobic Digestion Plant at Carr Farm     Farmgen’s £3m first phase Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant at Warton, near Preston, Lancs, has officially been switched on to start generating 800kW of electricity. 05/27/2011

 

USDA's BCAP and REAP Program Funding in Peril

This week the House Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee submitted a draft Agricultural Appropriations bill to the main Appropriations Committee, in part recommending against 2012 budget appropriations necessary for funding the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). 05/27/2011

 

Endicott and Holly Form Sabine Biofuels for 30 MGY Biorefinery in Texas   Endicott Biofuels, LLC (EBF) and Holly Biofuels, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dallas-based petroleum refiner Holly Corporation (NYSE-HOC), have formed Sabine Biofuels LLC to partner on a 30 million gallon per year (MGY) biorefinery under construction in Port Arthur, Texas. 05/26/2011

 

UPS Begins Using Biodiesel at Kentucky Worldport Facility  

United Parcel Service (UPS) began using biodiesel blends at its hub in Louisville, Kentucky this month with installation of a 30,000 gallon biodiesel fuel tank and fueling station at its Worldport facility. 05/26/2011

 

Jacobs Wins EPCM Contract for Biomass to Biomethane Plant in Sweden   Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has received a contract from Goteborg Energi AB for the GoBiGas-project, a 20 megawatt biomass gasification and methanation demonstration project in Goteborg, Sweden. 05/26/2011

 

DC Water Breaks Ground on Biosolids to Energy, Nutrient Management   The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) has started construction on two waste conversion / resource recovery projects at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). 05/25/2011

 

Ceres, Inc Files for $100MM IPO

Bio-crop specialist Ceres, Inc has filed for a $100MM initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to be underwritten by Goldman Sachs and Barklays Capital. 05/25/2011

 

ZeroPoint Completes Gasification Commissioning in Germany

New York based ZeroPoint Clean Tech, Inc. has completed the initial field commissioning of its biomass gasification technology at a project site in Schwarze-Pumpe, Germany. 05/25/2011

 

USDA Releases Fact Sheet for BCAP Project Area 1

Earlier this month, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Services Agency (FSA) designated the first Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) "Project Area", up to 50,000 acres in a 39-county area located in central and western Missouri and eastern Kansas. 05/24/2011

 

SCE Starts Review Process for Small Renewable Energy PPA Templates   Southern California Edison (SCE) has initiated a formal stakeholder review process for reform of power purchase agreement (PPA) contract templates for their California Renewable Energy Small Tariff (CREST) program. 05/24/2011

 

CleanTech Secures 500 KW Gasification Interconnection Agreement   Nevada based thermal conversion company CleanTech Transit, Inc. announced that their 500 kilowatt Merced, California biomass gasification project has passed interconnection tests and is now connected to the grid, securing a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) 15-year interconnection agreement. 05/24/2011

 

WSU Gets "Feedstock Agnostic" Biofuels Grant for BioChemCat Pilot  The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a grant of $1.5 million to Washington State University Tri-Cities to research ways to produce biofuel from varying kinds of agricultural waste. 05/23/2011

 

EPA Delays CISWI and Major Source Boiler MACT Rules

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is delaying the effective dates for two final maximum achievable control technology (MACT) rules for an indefinite time. 05/23/2011

 

The Week's Action Items

 

Due 06/07/2011: Public Comments to CEC Draft 2011-2012 Investment Plan   The Transportation Committee of the California Energy Commission (CEC) held an Advisory Committee meeting and public workshop for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program to consider a draft 2011-2012 Investment Plan. 05/25/2011

 

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Featured Events:

 UK AD & Biogas 2011
UK AD & Biogas 2011
July 6-7, 2011

 

 

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Teru Talk is an online publication of JDMT, Inc with the goal of opening the dialogue and providing current news and commentary on issues and successes associated with waste conversion to renewable energy, biofuels and other bio-based products for resource recovery.

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The Teru Talk Newsletter is published weekly or more or less frequently, primarily depending on what is going on in the world of waste conversion or ours.