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Volume I, Issue 17 -  June 20, 2011 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "TerĂº") 

 

Teru's Trash Talk 
 

In most regions, there are three primary categories of waste sources that conversion facilities can draw upon for feedstock. Each category has its own language, its own set of rules, and its own fluctuations in availability and contamination that must be considered.

 

Urban Waste includes wastewater treatment plant biosolids, fractions of municipal solid waste like food waste and post-recycling organics, and the more difficult and contaminated medical and industrial waste streams. State and federal "integrated waste management" regulations generally take first seat. Here is where most of the Conversion attention and most of the money remains focused.

 

Agricultural Waste is the harvest silage and process left-overs – hulls and straw, pits and prunings, and the older, non-productive trees and vines removed en masse. Add to that the animal processing by-products and of course, mountains of manure. We see County-University-State-Federal controls, usually amounting to more help than hindrance, but not always.

 

Then there's Forest Waste - all that slash from timber operations, and now the carefully extracted fuel loading material. A decade or so ago, our industry sported a rare few "clean, modular wood conversion" systems; these days, there are far more economical forest biomass conversion system choices that can meet even our most stringent air quality standards. And finally, after well over a decade of fussing and arguing, we are starting to see consensus on how to remove just the right sustainable amount, and how to get long enough contracts to make forest-sourced biomass conversion projects bankable.

 

Hey Rube!

 

If we ever needed to see both sides of the Forest Biomass question, now is the time to look closely at (a) Arizona's 4FRI program of landscape-scale forest restoration and (b) the devastation of the still-raging Wallow Fire. See our news on the Grand Canyon Trust's take on context, and our 4FRI proposal Action Item. Find a way to get engaged; it's time to re-think forest biomass as a viable conversion feedstock.

 

The Week's News 

 

CSBP Field Tests First US Sustainable Biomass Production Standard

The Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) is completing (501)(c)(3) filings in preparation for full non-profit status, electing Board members, hiring specialists and preparing to launch the first US standard for sustainable biomass production for bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts. 06/17/2011

 

New BCAP Project Areas Announcement Coincides with House Vote to Defund  US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced four additional Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project areas to promote the cultivation of crops that can be processed into renewable energy. 06/17/2011

 

Gevo and Redfield Energy Form JV to Retrofit 2nd Ethanol Plant for Isobutanol Colorado-based Gevo's Gevo Development, LLC has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Redfield Energy to retrofit Redfield's existing ethanol plant into an isobutanol plant with an expected production capacity of approximately 38 million gallons per year. 06/17/2011

   

CA ARB Releases LCFS Guidance Document

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has released a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) - Question and Answer Guidance Document (Version 2.0) to draw the current LCFS understanding into one "living" public document, and intended to be updated as the program continues. 06/17/2011

 

Brazilian Landfill to Use FirmGreen Technology to Make Biogas for Heat Newport Beach, California based FirmGreen Inc. will supply their specialized landfill gas cleaning technology to the Novo Gramacho Landfill in Brazil. 06/17/2011

 

Grand Canyon Trust: Context of 4FRI and the Wallow Fire

The non-profit Grand Canyon Trust (GCT) has posted an article addressing the importance of the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI) in context with the massive Wallow Fire now raging across the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in the south-eastern portion of GCT's oversight territory. 06/16/2011

 

Genomatica Produces Bio-BDO on Schedule at Tate & Lyle Demo Facility  San Diego-based bio-engineering company Genomatica has successfully produced 1,4-butanediol strictly from biological processes (Bio-BDO) at demonstration scale in the 13,000 liter fermentation tanks of Illinois scale-up partner Tate and Lyle. 06/16/2011

 

RSB Releases Online Biofuel Sustainability Assessment Tool

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) now provides on-line access to the beta version of their Biofuel Sustainability Tool; use is free, but registration is required. 06/16/2011

 

EPA Opens Two Chemical Assessment Databases for Public Use

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened two on-line chemical assessment databases to public use, aiding efforts in many areas of the country for consideration of "green chemistry" alternatives to petroleum-sourced foundation chemicals and products, and to help efficiently understand biological processes impacted by chemicals that may lead to adverse health effects. 06/16/2011

 

DTE Energy Issued Authority to Construct to Convert Coal Plant to Biomass DTE Energy Services (DTEES) has received an Authority to Construct and Certificate of Conformity from the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District (SJAPCD) for conversion of the Port of Stockton District Energy Facility (POSDEF) from combustion of coal entirely to biomass fuel derived from urban wood waste, tree trimmings and agricultural residues. 06/15/2011

 

Gates Foundation Backs Wastewater Sludge to Biofuels Research

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Columbia University Earth and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Kartik Chandran $1.5 million to develop simple and cost-effective systems for conversion of human waste to biodiesel and methane. 06/15/2011

 

UK DEFRA Publishes Detailed Review of Waste Management Policy in England The United Kingdom's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has released their Government Review of Waste Policy in England 2011. 06/15/2011

 

Bacterial-Sourced Enzyme that Digests Biomass Could Aid Biofuel Production Researchers at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom (UK) have identified an enzyme in bacteria which could be used to make biofuel production from biomass more efficient. 06/14/2011

 

$3MM from CRIBE Funds G2 BioChem for Biorefinery Process RD&D

The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) is providing $3 million in support of a partnership between G2 BioChem and Lakehead University to advance biorefinery process design and demonstration. 06/14/2011

 

KiOR Increases IPO Target to $241.5MM and Sets Price per Share

Texas advanced biofuels and biochemicals company KiOR has modified their S-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Corporation for their Initial Public Offering (IPO) announced in April. 06/14/2011

 

DOE Awards $36MM for Drop-In Biofuels / Biochemical Projects

Six small-scale projects in California, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin will receive up to $36 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to improve technology and process integration for production of drop-in advanced biofuels and other valuable bio-based chemicals. 06/13/2011

 

4RFI to Receive $3.5MM Collaborative Forest Restoration Funding

The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) in Arizona was one of several projects nationwide that would receive Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration funding to promote healthier, safer and more productive public lands, a program which began receiving funding in 2010. 06/13/2011

 

DTSC Green Chemistry Program's Science Panel Preparing for July Meeting Subcommittees of the Green Ribbon Science Panel are holding teleconferences during June in preparation for a full-panel meeting on July 14-15, 2011 in Sacramento, California. 06/13/2011

 

The Week's Action Items

 

Due 07/15/2011: Developer Qualifications for Waste/Biomass Conversion Project The City of San Bernardino , California, has released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ No. F11-22) to identify potential development partners for a waste and/or biomass conversion project. 06/17/2011

  

Due 07/18/2011: Proposals to Defense Logistics Agency for REC Transfer The US Defense Logistics Agency is seeking transfer of 573,302 MWh of eligible renewable energy certificates (REC) and contracts for one time deliveries starting September 1, 2011. 06/13/2011

 

Due 07/28/2011: Comments on CA ARB Cap-and-Trade Alternatives Supplement  The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has responded to a court order by releasing a supplement to their AB 32 Functional Equivalent Document (FED) and scheduling a Board hearing to reconsider its previous decision. 06/15/2011

 

Due 08/12/2011: Proposals for 4FRI Phase 1 of Arizona Forest Restoration The US Forest Service has now released the full Request for Proposal (RFP) package for Phase 1 of the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI), extending the last proposed due date by almost two weeks to August 12, 2011. 06/16/2011

 

 

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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.