Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
25
-
August 15,
2011
Teru Talk
by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash
Talk
Turning
over every rock along a
path exposes things we may
not want to see. When we
take a Lifecycle Assessment
(LCA) approach to
understanding the
real-world impact of
developing and using
biofuels, we will
invariably identify aspects
that are not all so pretty.
In fact, no matter WHAT we
might look at from that
source-to-endpoint
perspective, we're bound to
spot the good, bad and the
abominable. The alternative
is what we have always
done: cover our communal
eyes and enjoy the
products. Don't watch the
grinder, just enjoy the
sausage.
The
Problem comes when we want
to honestly compare
products, say Bio-sourced
Fuels and Petro-sourced
Fuels. We roll up to the
pump and fill that
20-gallon-plus tank, roll
away and hope like crazy we
don't have to really know
how that stuff got there.
We are not going to stop
filling up just because
somewhere (else) there's
literal devastation
occurring as a result of
producing that fuel. But
more and more people are
choosing to fill up with
BioDiesel, instead of
PetroDiesel. Why? Well,
just maybe underneath we'd
rather not buy the bad
karma with the
gas.
It is
maddening, yet heartening,
to know that all over the
planet groups are currently
trying to untangle the LCA
of transport fuels. Europe
has a dozen or so efforts
on-going. Right here in the
Golden State, we're working
on the Low Carbon Fuel
Standard, sorting and
comparing biofuels and
petrofuels. Now, we're
going all the way back to
the growers and the
collectors, the
well-drillers and the
miners, working along the
Supply Chain through
conversion to Product
development.
Lots to
do; always lots to do. It
just seems like it
shouldn't be so darn hard
to figure out that making
fuel for our planes, trains
and automobiles from waste
french-fry cooker oil or
waste plastic or waste wood
or… waste whatever,
has to be better than
paying for what getting all
that crude oil
really
costs.
Hey
Rube!
There's a new
law in California that expects
us property owners to pay some
of the cost of keeping our
surrounding "Urban-Wildland
Interface" (yep, that's called
the "WUI", folks) from burning
up, and burning us up with it.
Assembly Bill 29 puts a charge
on living where there is
something more than concrete
and just how that is
going to play out is up for
grabs. For us that are
interested in extracting
Biomass from the woods in a way
that clearly helps, this
new law may be just
what the BioEnergy Doctor
ordered. Or not, it's already
being contested. Teru will
track the process and let you
know when to Stand
Up.
The Week's Extra
Reading
The
California Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS) is under
development and Teru submitted
comments
last Friday to the LCFS
Advisory Workgroup on their
Workplan Version 2. The
Advisory Group is
responsible for oversight of
the LCFS program planning
process and the Workplan is
their roadmap. Comments are
due today.
The Week's
News
PNNL
Researchers' New Enzymatic
Catalyst Makes Hydrogen Gas
–
Fast
Researchers at
Pacific Northwest National Lab
(PNNL) report that their new
nickel-based enzymatic catalyst
separates hydrogen from water
at a rate of abut 100,000
molecules per second, much
faster than previously
accomplished by natural plant
enzyme action.
08/13/2011
Air Products
Receives Planning Permission
for Plasma Waste to Energy
Plant
United
Kingdom (UK) based Air Products
has received planning
permission from the Stockton on
Tees Borough Council for their
proposed Tees Valley Renewable
Energy Facility.
08/13/2011
Metso Wins
8th Contract in Germany for
Modular CHP Biomass
Plant
International energy, paper and
mining giant Metso Corporation
announced that they have
secured their eighth contract
for a modularized bubbling
fluidized bed (BFB)
gasification based power plant
to be delivered by their
Metso-Wärtsilä (MW Power) joint
venture.
08/13/2011
BASF and
Purac Negotiate JV for
Commercial Production of
Bio-Succinic
Acid
Global
chemistry giant BASF and
Netherlands-based Purac (a
subsidiary of CSM nv) have
announced negotiations for
formation of a joint venture
(JV) to produce commercial
quantities of bio-sourced
succinic acid at Purac's
facility near Barcelona, Spain.
08/12/2011
DOE Releases
2011 Update of the Billion
Ton Biomass
Supply
The US Department of Energy's
Knowledge Discovery Framework
(DOE/KDF) has announced release
of their 2011 "U.S. Billion-Ton
Update: Biomass Supply for a
Bioenergy and Bioproducts
Industry" (2011 BT2).
08/12/2011
BC Hydro
Will Invest $300 Million in
Four Biomass to Bioenergy
Projects
BC Hydro has announced
selection of two developers for
four British Columbia, Canada
bioenergy projects totaling 104
megawatts (MWe) capacity, for
an investment of over $300
million.
08/12/2011
MagneGas
Signs MOU for First Liquid
Waste to Fuel Satellite
Operation
Florida plasma specialist
MagneGas has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
with waste recycling and
treatment company Grease Depot
Inc. (GDI) for installation and
operation of a liquid waste to
hydrogen-based fuel production
plant at GDI's facility in
Clearwater, Florida.
08/11/2011
UK Expert
Advisory Group Considers
Waste and Residue Conversion
to
Biofuels
Presentations considering
management of waste and
residuals under the European
Union's Renewable Energy
Directive (EU RED) have now
been posted on-line from the
most recent meeting of the
United Kingdom's Expert
Advisory Group for the
Renewable Transport Fuel
Obligation (RTFO).
08/11/2011
IDB's New
Costa Rica Strategy Includes
Financing for Renewable
Energy
The
Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) Board of Directors has
announced their approval of a
new country strategy for Costa
Rica which includes a financing
framework of between $700
million and $1.6 billion over
the next three years.
08/10/2011
SARTA's
CleanStart Initiative Offers
Free Advanced Biofuels
Webinar
The Sacramento Area Regional
Technology Alliance (SARTA)
CleanStart initiative will host
an informal webinar on advanced
biofuels and the Greenwise
Sacramento program's “Million
Gallon Challenge” on September
20, 2011 starting at 11:00 am
PDT.
08/10/2011
California's
New SRA Wildfire Prevention
Fund Will Support Biomass
Removal
The
California Fire Safe Council
reports that the cost of excess
biomass clearing and collection
necessary for fire prevention
within any State Responsibility
Area (SRA) may now be partially
funded through emergency
session Assembly Bill 29 (AB
29x1), the now-chaptered SRA
Fire Prevention Fund
legislation, which will in turn
improve access to biomass
supply for clean conversion to
energy, fuels and other
products.
08/10/2011
Cortec
Launches EcoOcean
Biodegradable Thin Film
Plastics
Bioplastics company Cortec
Corporation has announced the
commercial availability of
their EcoOcean line of highly
degradable thin film packaging
plastic intended to easily
decompose in marine
environments, under anaerobic
digestion (AD) processing and
in "backyard" low-temperature
composting conditions.
08/09/2011
EPA Proposes
RCRA Exemptions for Geologic
Carbon
Sequestration
In an attempt to address
Interagency Task Force findings
released a year ago on the
topic, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has
responded with a proposed
rulemaking to exclude control
of certain carbon dioxide
emission streams from their
hazardous waste regulations
when injected into qualified
wells for geologic
sequestration (GS).
08/09/2011
Canadian
$17.5MM Grant Supports Pulp
Mill Wastewater-to-Energy
Project
The
Government of Alberta has
granted Millar Western Forest
Products $17.5 million to
develop the mill's Bioenergy
Effluent Project in Whitecourt,
Alberta, Canada.
08/09/2011
Denver Zoo
Tests Gasification of Zoo
Waste for CCHP and Landfill
Diversion
Construction has begun on the
Denver Zoo's massive Asian
Tropics project, and to provide
combined cooling, heating and
power (CCHP) to the facilities,
the zoo is testing biomass
gasification systems.
08/08/2011
UN Seeks
Global Input, Launches
Biofuels Feedstock Producers
Questionnaire
The United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization
(UN/FAO) Bioenergy and Food
Security Criteria and
Indicators (BEFSCI) initiative
has seeking global input from
bioenergy feedstock producers
to highlight sustainable
bioenergy development.
08/08/2011
Vanguard
Synfuels Refurbishes and
Re-Opens 15 MGY Louisiana
Biodiesel
Plant
A 15
million gallon per year (MGY)
biodiesel facility in rural
Pollock, central Louisiana, has
been retooled by local owners
Vanguard Synfuels and is ready
for the grand re-opening
scheduled for August 8, 2011.
08/08/2011
The Week's
Action
Items
Due
09/30/2011: Comments to
Ireland's New National Waste
Policy
Ireland's Department of the
Environment, Community and
Local Government is seeking
comments on its recently
published discussion paper,
"Towards a New National Waste
Policy."
08/11/2011
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