Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
21
-
July 18,
2011
Teru Talk
by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
We've
started the New Fiscal Year
(whoopee!) and Agencies
everywhere are breaking out
their Planning Periscopes,
peering over the edge of
this crumpled global
economy, trying to sound
cheerful and positive while
not sticking our communal
necks out too far.
It's the old Mission,
Vision, Goals routine: (1)
What are we supposed to do?
(2) What do we think we can
get away with? and (3) Now,
how are we gonna do
that??
One such
planning process is
attempting to align
California's energy future
Mission with the Green Jobs
stump speech and SB x1-2
first shot over the bow by
new Governor Jerry Brown:
Clean energy means Jobs and
JOBS IS GOOD so get that
clean energy geared up,
folks. 'Course, one could
inquire: "Clean, compared
to what?"
Ahhhh -
that's the Vision
part: Agencies are figuring
out what they can hope to
manage, with what control
they hope to own. The Sages
say that if they don't
monitor it, they can't
manage it … so this all
devolves to a Counting
Game.
But
speaking of attaining
Goals: how are we gonna
do that, if we don't
know much about the
front-end source-stuff
nobody wants to count? How
can The Communal We of
California ever reach those
lofty 33% Renewable Energy
goals, if we don't count
the
feedstock?
California's Clean Energy
Future planning process
kicked off this month, and
we stood in line to take
pot shots (see our
Comments to
Docket).
Hey
Rube!
Comments to
this first round of the
California
Clean Energy Future
planning process are due
July 20 2011, but as said,
this is only the first of a
series culminating in
Reports this coming
December. Teru Talk will
post a Focus Report this
coming week breaking it all
down and providing the
critical background; stay
tuned.
The Week's
News
Green Heat
Report Recommends Wood Stove
Replacement
Incentive
The Alliance for Green Heat
(AHG) released a report on
their year long assessment of
biomass heating in the US,
partially funded by USDA-Forest
Service's Wood Education and
Resource Center (WERC).
07/16/2011
Cereplast
Expands Presence in European
Market for
Bioplastics
California based bio-sourced
chemical company Cereplast, Inc
has signed a distribution
agreement with Polimernet
Plastik Ltd. to supply their
bioplastic resins to the
Turkish market.
07/15/2011
DECC
Publishes White Paper on
Electric Market Reform in
UK
United Kingdom's (UK)
Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) has
issued a vision of dramatic
energy redevelopment in the
white paper, ‘Planning our
electric future: a White Paper
for secure, affordable and
low-carbon electricity’.
07/15/2011
EPA Proposes
Modifications to Hazardous
Waste Recycling
Rules
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has announced the
intent to publish their
modification of the 2008
Definition of Solid Waste (DSW)
Rulemaking and will seek public
comment on the Rule's draft
expanded environmental justice
(EJ) analysis and peer review.
07/15/2011
Rentech
Receives Final Air Permit
for Florida Biomass to
Energy
Project
California based gasification
company Rentech Inc. announced
that the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection has
issued the final air permit
needed for the company's Port
St. Joe Florida Renewable
Energy Center (Port St. Joe
Project); all significant
permits have now been received
from the State to allow
construction of the planned
project to begin.
07/15/2011
Codexis
Completes First Scale-up of
Cellulase Enzyme for Biomass
Conversion
Codexis has successfully
completed their first scale-up
manufacturing of cellulase
enzyme for biomass conversion
to biofuels and bio-based
chemicals at the contract
facility of Fermic S.A. de C.V
in Mexico City.
07/14/2011
NatureWorks
Moves Nebraska Biochemical
Production Toward
Commercial
NatureWorks LLC, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Cargill, has
increased investment in their
Blair, Nebraska facility in
preparation for commercial
production of their new
bio-based polymer-grade
lactide, Ingeo M700.
07/14/2011
Pennsylvania
Clean Energy Awards Include
AD and BioPower
Projects
The Pennsylvania Department of
Community and Economic
Development (DCED) has awarded
$4.22 million in clean energy
grants to six counties enabling
a total of 10 renewable energy
projects, including development
of three anaerobic digestion
systems and upgrading of one
biomass-fueled combined heat
and power (CHP) installation.
07/14/2011
Chesapeake
Invests $155 Million in
Sundrop Fuels for Green
Gasoline
Chesapeake NG Ventures
Corporation (CNGV) is investing
$155 million for a fifty
percent equity stake in Sundrop
Fuels, Inc, the Colorado based
biomass gasification to liquid
fuels company.
07/13/2011
EdeniQ and
IKA Works Partner for
Biomass Milling
Technology
California based EdeniQ, Inc
and IKA Works, Inc, US
subsidiary of the German firm
IKA® Werke GmbH Co. KG, have
announced their mutually
exclusive joint development
agreement for manufacturing,
sales and further development
of biomass mixing and milling
technology for the global
biofuels and biochemical
markets.
07/13/2011
6.5 MM
Tonnes/Year of British Food
Waste Available for AD
Conversion
The United Kingdom's Eunomia
Research and Consulting has
released a report on their
year-long study of food waste
availability for anaerobic
digestion (AD) conversion in
Great Britain, indicating that
of a total of 8.8 million
tonnes available throughout the
United Kingdom (UK), 2.2
million tonnes per annum (tpa)
is from household sources, 5.2
million tpa commercial and 0.6
million tpa industrial.
07/13/2011
United
Kingdom Dairy is Powered by
Food Processing
Waste
The BV Dairy in Dorset, United
Kingdom (UK), now operates on
combined heat and power (CHP)
generated from anaerobic
digestion (AD) of food
processing waste for production
of biogas, with £1.7m in
funding assistance from the AD
Demonstration Programme of the
UK's Waste & Resources
Action Programme (WRAP).
07/12/2011
MagneGas to
Enter Mexico Market with
Plasma Waste to
Energy
Florida-based MagneGas
Corporation has revised their
non-binding memorandum of
understanding MOU) with
Inmobiliaria Grupo Corporativo
S.A. de C.V. (IGC) of Mexico,
doing business as Green Planet
Aid (GPA), which provides GPA
with exclusive distribution
rights in Mexico for an initial
five-year period.
07/12/2011
New £10m
Anaerobic Digestion Loan
Fund Announced in
England
A new £10m Anaerobic Digestion
Loan Fund (ADLF) has just been
announced to support new
anaerobic digestion (AD)
capacity in England, aiming for
300,000 tonnes of annual food
waste diversion from landfill
by 2015.
07/11/2011
American
Renewables Awards 100 MWe
Biomass Boiler Contract to
Metso
Finland-based Metso Corporation
has been awarded a contract
from American Renewables to
supply a 100 megawatt bubbling
fluidized bed (BFB) biomass
boiler, flue gas cleaning
system and the entire power
plant automation system for
their Gainesville Renewable
Energy Center (GREC) in
Florida.
07/11/2011
The Week's
Action
Items
Due
07/20/2011: Comments on
California Clean Energy
Future
California
agencies are requesting public
comment regarding ways to
implement and then measure
effectiveness of policies
identified by the California
Clean Energy Future
organization.
07/11/2011
Due
09/30/2011: EOIs to London
for Waste Management Support
Programme
The London Waste and Recycling
Board (LWARB) has opened a
Targeted Waste Infrastructure
Programme to meet the criteria
of their Business Plan.
07/11/2011
Due
02/17/2012: Energy for
Sustainability Proposals to
NSF
The National Science Foundation
(NSF) requests proposals toward
their Energy for Sustainability
program to support fundamental
research and education in
energy production, conversion,
and storage.
07/13/2011
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