Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
15
-
June 6,
2011
Teru Talk
by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Once I got the engine
running on my first car
(OK, OK, it was a Renault
Dauphine 300) and filled
the tank, I found some
tires that weren't too bad,
oh, and made sure the
brakes worked. We're at
that "integrated systems"
stage now with most of our
bio-this and bio-that
commercialization: the core
conversion system works and
we've figured out we need a
steady feedstock supply. It
turns on; it converts crud;
it turns
off.
Globally, we are
seeing evidence
of attending to the
pre- and post-processing
parts of the process train.
We can start on the front
end with better MRFs, with
their sorting lines,
grinders, shakers and
sifters. Maybe add
sub-critical water / steam,
and/or an enzyme bath.
Close-couple the AD tanks
with small gasification
units to serve our own
thermal demand. Finish off
with our standard AQ
management, but add algae
to eat the effluent and
CO2, perhaps catalysis to
turn the methane and syngas
into liquid fuels and
foundation chemicals. We're
getting
there.
Take a look at this week's
extra reading
below for more on
this.
Hey
Rube!
There are
several Action Items with due
dates this month. Check to see
if any of them are applicable
to
you.
The Week's Extra
Reading
Teru attended
the Cambi Academy 2011 in
Sacramento last month and came
away with new information.
See his new TERU
Focus Report on
Sewage to Renewable Energy
- Enhance Anaerobic Digestion
with Pre- and
Post-Treatment of
Biomass.
The Week's
News
Green
Conversion Proposes 99%
Landfill Diversion for City
of Los
Angeles
The City of Los Angeles
Department of Public Works,
Bureau of Sanitation has been
authorized to enter into
negotiations with Green
Conversion Systems (GCS), their
top choice to provide
facilities and services for
municipal solid waste (MSW)
conversion for resource
recovery and energy.
06/03/2011
Virent Makes
Drop-in BioGasoline from
Corn Stover and Forest
Residue
Virent has successfully
produced drop-in "green
gasoline" from cellulosic
biomass feedstock. Virent's
work was performed under the US
Department of Energy's February
2010 grant to the National
Advanced Biofuels Consortium
(NABC).
06/03/2011
Waste-to-Biofuels
Company Enerkem Closes $60MM
Financing
Round
Canadian company Enerkem closed
on a $59 million Canadian (US
$60MM) financing round,
supporting its current and
future projects that convert
municipal solid waste to
biofuels and renewable
products.
06/03/2011
Deployable
Waste To Energy Will Power
Australian Troops with
Rubbish
The Australian Minister for
Defence Science &
Personnel, Warren Snowdon, says
the energy requirements for
future troop deployments could
be powered by rubbish.
06/03/2011
Shell Moves
Codexis Stock to Brazilian
Biofuels Joint Venture
Raízen
Royal Dutch Shell has shifted
5.6 million shares of common
stock in biocatalyst specialist
Codexis to Raízen Energia
Participacoes S.A., the $12
billion Brazil-based biofuels
joint venture between Shell and
Cosan Limited.
06/03/2011
BION
Receives First Nutrient
Control Credit
Certification
Colorado-based BION
Technologies has received its
first nutrient control credit
certification from the
Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP)
for reduction of over a half
million pounds of nitrogen (N)
from the treatment of Kreider
Farms (KF) poultry waste stream
otherwise lost to the watershed
and destined to contaminate the
Chesapeake Bay (CB).
06/03/2011
Gevo Begins Retrofit of Ethanol
Plant for Biobased IsoButanol
Production
Colorado-based Gevo has begun
the retrofit of their 18
million gallon per year ethanol
plant in Luverne, Minnesota.
06/02/2011
Myriant Proposes IPO to
Complete 30 Mppy Biosuccinic
Acid Louisiana
Plant
Massachusetts based Myriant
Corporation has registered
their proposed Initial Public
Offering (IPO) with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).
06/02/2011
ZeaChem Signs Multi-Year
Development Agreement with
Proctor &
Gamble
Colorado's advanced biofuels
and biochemicals company
ZeaChem has entered into a
binding multi-year joint
development agreement with
Proctor & Gamble.
06/02/2011
APL's GEK 2011 Power Pallet
Design Shifts to
Stainless
Berkeley-based developer All
Power Labs (APL) has released
the 2011 GEK Power Pallet
development package, their
newest open-platform
Gasification Experimenter's Kit
(GEK).
06/01/2011
ARB Updates LCFS Biorefinery
Registration
Tables
The California Air Resources
Board (ARB) staff has updated
carbon intensities (CIs) and
other information about
registered biorefineries; the
updated information can be
found at the Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS)
biorefinery-registration
webpage.
06/01/2011
New Zealand Biosolids Thermal
Decomposition Plant
Opens
A thermal conversion pilot
facility installed at Rotorua
District Council’s Wastewater
Treatment Plant was officially
opened yesterday by the New
Zealand Minister for the
Environment Honorable Dr. Nick
Smith.
06/01/2011
CEPSA
Completes R&D for New
Biodiesel Production
Method
Spanish petroleum giant
Compañía Española de Petróleos,
S.A. (CEPSA) has completed
research and development of a
new hydro-treatment process for
the production of biodiesel
using vegetable oil.
06/01/2011
Nexterra
Secures $2.5MM Equity
Financing from BD Bank of
Canada
The Business Development Bank
of Canada (BDC) has made a $2.5
million equity investment in
gasification company Nexterra
Systems Corp.
05/31/2011
UK's Pursuit
Dynamics Technology Improves
US Biofuels
Production
Pursuit Dynamics plc (PDX)
will be installing their
Ethanol Reactor System (ERS) in
Front Range Energy's dry-mill
corn ethanol production plant
in Windsor, Colorado.
05/31/2011
British Bus Fleet to Run
on Biomethane from Animal and
Plant
Waste
A Stagecoach UK Bus fleet will
be fueled with biomethane from
household and animal waste,
which would otherwise
be sent to landfill.
05/31/2011
Iowa Governor Signs Incentive
Law for Biofuels
Use
Iowa's Governor Terry Branstad
approved Senate File 531 this
past week, an act supporting
biofuels and renewable fuels
used by the public for
transport, Iowa biofuels
production, and retail dealer
biofuels sales.
05/30/2011
Vermont 2011 Renewable Energy
Bill Signed into
Law
The Vermont Energy Act of 2011
was signed into law last week
by Governor Peter Shumlin.
Among a great many Renewable
Energy provisions, the bill
includes requirements that all
petroleum-based heating oil
contain a minimum of 3%
biodiesel, and requires state
departments to develop
incentives for biomass-fueled
heating.
05/30/2011
Solazyme IPO Shares Begin
Trading at $18 per
Share
San Francisco based biofuels
company Solazyme's initial
public offering (IPO) shares
started trading last Friday at
$18.00.
05/30/2011
The Week's
Action
Items
Due 07/01/2011: Bid Proposals
to WAPA for 2011-2016 REC
Purchases
The Western Area Power
Administration (WAPA) is
requesting aggregate bid
proposals for firm, fixed,
per-megawatt hour (MWh) unit
price per year offers for the
transfer of Renewable Energy
Certificates (RECs) on behalf
of the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Department of
Energy and the Central
Intelligence Agency for each
fiscal year (FY) for contract
terms October 2011 up to
September 2015.
06/02/2011
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