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