Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
22
-
July 25,
2011
Teru Talk
by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Microbes
have awfully small mouths
and nibble away at the
outside edges of their
food. Most of the stuff we
try to feed them comes in
big, tough pieces. If we
intend to get these bugs
working double-time, we
need to get their food
scaled down to their mouth
size. We need to find ways
to dissolve the foodstuff,
to grind it to a pulp or
powder, to literally
disintegrate it. We can
also pry the chunks apart
to open cracks and
crevasses, so the
microbe-beasties can work
their way in and nibble
from the inside.
When we get their
food-things cut down to
their size, we increase the
conversion rate and
efficiency, leaving less
residual. That's the
essence of
pre-treatment of
feedstock prior to
microbial conversion,
something we hit on in last
week's trash
talk.
Thermo-chemical
processes work about the
same way: get the stuff you
want to convert busted down
enough, pulled apart
enough, and the reactions
find more surface area to
work on. Gasifiers can more
quickly and completely
change solid and liquid
feedstock to synthetic fuel
gas when the input is
homogenous and finely
divided. Pyrolysis can act
as a "molecular grinder" in
front of a gasifier,
tearing complex physical
structures down to their
simpler molecular
components. Gasification
then can break the heavy
molecular chains from the
pyrolyzer down to an even
flow of carbon and hydrogen
rich syngas.
Now we
get to integrated
biorefineries: Run that
syngas through a mesh of
metal catalysts and out
drips liquid fuel, but try
not to clog up the catalyst
matrix with any chunks. Or
… cool the syngas and
bubble it through vats of
microbes, and you can train
them to convert that
hydrocarbon source to
short-chain alcohols, like
ethanol and butanol.
Pyrolyze, gasify, cool and
catalyze or ferment, and
you can turn just abut any
kind of waste into
renewable
energy.
Size
does matter, after
all.
Hey
Rube!
People and
organizations that want to stop
everything from being built
anywhere find ways to get their
minion deep inside the planning
processes that, eventually,
determine the Rules. Plenty of
those critical planning
processes are going on right
now, right here in California
with the Clean Energy Future,
Green Chemistry, and Low Carbon
Fuel Standard. National
planning is under review; EPA
alone must have half a dozen
Rulemakings up for comment at
any one time. Europe certainly
has opened their process,
especially with the Biofuels
Technology Platform. This is a
general call to "planning"
arms: look around, pick your
battles, and get
engaged.
The Week's Extra
Reading
Our new
article,
Blueprint for
California's Clean Energy
Future
,
builds upon our submission
earlier this month of
formal
comments
addressing
the California Clean Energy
Future planning
process.
The Week's
News
Ammonia
Pre-Treatment Makes
Cellulosic Biomass Five
Times More
Digestible
Collaborative research between
the US Department of Energy's
Los Alamos National Laboratory
(LANL), and the Michigan State
University's Great Lakes
Bioenergy Research Center
(GLBRC) has revealed that the
molecular-level activity of
ammonia pre-treatment loosens
cellulosic structure of biomass
and greatly facilitates
hydrolysis.
07/23/2011
Iowa State's
MycoMeal Process of
Thin-Stillage Improves
Ethanol
Production
Iowa State University (ISU)
researchers have moved
"MycoMeal" from lab to pilot
scale and the process works
better. The research team is
growing the fungus Rhizopus
oligosporus on the wash-water
left from standard ethanol
fermentation with the MycoMeal
process.
07/23/2011
Dow and
Mitsui Forming JV for
Brazilian Ethanol and
Biopolymers
Dow Chemical Company and Mitsui
& Co, Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan
are forming a new joint venture
(JV) with a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) to develop
and supply sustainable
bioproducts.
07/22/2011
Cathay
Industrial Biotech Files for
IPO to Expand Biobutanol
Production
Chinese biobutanol producer
Cathay Industrial Biotech Ltd
has filed Form F-1 Registration
Statement and preliminary
prospectus with the US
Securities Exchange Commission
toward an Initial Public
Offering of American Depository
Shares (ADSs).
07/21/2011
Biochar
Group Selected by Gates
Foundation for Toilet
Challenge
A multi-University, The Hertz
Foundation Fellows-led team has
been selected as one of eight
grant recipients in the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation
"Reinvent the Toilet Challenge"
(RTTC).
07/21/2011
European
Commission Recognizes Seven
Biofuels Sustainability
Programs
The European Commission has
formally recognized seven
programs providing
sustainability criteria and
certification for production of
biofuels.
07/20/2011
BIOSYNERGY
Project Releases Final
Report
The collaborative BIOSYNERGY
project has released its
findings in a detailed
brochure, Biorefinery
Development for Europe.
07/20/2011
Los Angeles
County Releases Q&A
Summary for Waste Conversion
RFEI
A Summary
has been released of Questions
& Answers (Q&A)
associated the last month's Los
Angeles County issuance of
Requests for Expression of
Interest (RFEI) to waste
conversion technology
providers, project developers
and financiers.
07/20/2011
California
Air Resource Board Hosts
First LCFS Public Update
Meeting
The
California Air Resources Board
(ARB) has released a Meeting
Notice and Agenda for its first
public update meeting for July
25, 2011 on the progress of the
Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
program's Advisory Panel.
07/19/2011
Eco-Solids
Cellruptor Pre-Treatment of
Food Waste for Conversion
Looks
Good
Organics
pre-treatment technology
specialist Eco-Solids
International (ESI) is seeing
early positive results in an
extended research and
development program lead by the
UK's University of Southampton
to assess effectiveness of
their Cellruptor process for
preparation of food waste prior
to anaerobic digestion (AD).
07/18/2011
Marine Base
Camp Lejeune Receives First
Local Biodiesel
Today
Marine base Camp Lejeune is
receiving their first shipment
of biodiesel today, coordinated
by the North Carolina Eastern
Region's Military Growth Task
Force through a program called
Fuel the Force.
07/18/2011
The Week's
Action
Items
Due
08/31/2011: Proposals to
CARB for Industrial Sector
GHG
Benchmarking
The California Air Resources
Board (CARB) has released a
Request for Proposal (RFP)
seeking one or more firms for
industrial sector assessments
necessary to set greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions efficiency
benchmarks under the State's
2010-adopted Cap & Trade
program.
07/21/2011
Due
09/30/2011 and 10/25/2011:
EOIs and FP7 Proposals to
EIBI
Details are now available for
submission of proposals to
Energy Call FP7 released by the
European Industrial Biofuels
Initiative (EIBI). Non-binding
Expressions of Interest (EOIs)
are due September 30, 2011.
07/22/2011
Due Now to
04/30/2012: Biomass/Biogas
to Energy Grant Apps to
Illinois
DCEO
The
Illinois Department of Commerce
and Economic Opportunity (DCEO)
is now accepting applications
for the Biogas and Biomass to
Energy Grant Program;
applications will be accepted
through April 30, 2012 or until
grant funds are expended.
07/18/2011
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