Volume I,
Issue 26, August
22,
2011
Teru Talk by
Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash
Talk
We're glad the
US Military has
decided it’s a
Good Thing to
be able to make
fuel out of,
well, something
other than
mid-eastern
oil. It's high
time too. The
Army wants to
replace opium
with biofuels
crops in
Afghanistan.
The Navy wants
aviation and
marine
biofuels. The
Marines are
turning kitchen
grease into
biodiesel.
What's next,
wringing gas
from a stone?
(Wait: that's
called "clean
coal"…)
I'm grateful
the federal
government has
wised up.
Alternatives to
dinosaur juice
are the Big
Thing for the
Hummers and
F-78s (or
whatever they
are up to now).
This is the
kinda break our
industry needs,
something to
light the fuse.
The USDA and
DOE secretaries
already "have a
plan" to ramp
up some of the
more promising
pick-o-litter
advanced
biofuels, take
our idle
national
Petroleum
Refinery brain
trust and
hardware and
put 'em back to
work turning
waste turnips
and corn cobs
into Mach 9
fighter jet
fuel. While
we're at it,
let's leap-frog
over the
existing Corn
to Ethanol
industry, and
revamp those
cookers for
isobutanol. We
just take out
the old Yeastie
Beasties, add a
few of these
here "special
bugs" from the
National
University of
GMO and let 'em
rip.
Somewhere in
the information
flood we go
through every
week, we read
that this is
the sort of
shift that
pulled America
out of the last
toilet, that
the
Industrial-Military
Complex got
purchase on new
technology
"back in the
day" and the
World Economy
changed, rather
abruptly. Just
keep in mind,
dear readers,
the cautionary
tales of Kurt
Vonnegut in
Cat's Cradle,
"The world
didn't end with
a Bang, it
ended with a
whimper …"
Let's pay
attention this
time and try to
keep the Tiger
in the
Tank.
Hey Rube!
Solicitations
for California's AB
118 Alt Fuels
funding for 2012
are
scheduled to
be released next
month with around
$36 million to
become available
for production of
diesel substitutes,
gasoline
substitutes, and
bio-methane. The
Energy Commission's
draft
2011-2012
Investment
Plan
for
the Alternative
and Renewable
Fuel and Vehicle
Technology
Program
(released May of
this year)
outlines the
coming program,
while
last
year's Plan
provides
a glimpse at
past awards.
Stay tuned;
we'll keep you
posted.
2011-2012
Priorities:
" The Energy
Commission will
continue to provide
funding to
accelerate
developing and
introducing clean,
efficient low
carbon technologies
that will reduce
greenhouse gas
emissions and
petroleum
dependence, and
increase
alternative and
renewable fuel use
and in state
biofuels
production.
Achieving these
policy objectives
requires a
portfolio of fuels
and vehicle
technologies
including electric
drive and fuel cell
vehicles, low
carbon biofuels,
natural gas and
propane vehicles,
and improved
vehicle
efficiency."
The Week's
News
CHP2011
Conference and
Trade Show
Scheduled for
October 17-19,
2011
CHP2011 is
the only
nationwide
conference and
trade show
dedicated solely
to combined heat
and power (CHP),
cogeneration,
tri-generation,
and waste heat
recovery.
08/21/2011
CTSI's
2011 Top 10
Defense
Technologies
Includes Waste
Conversion to
Energy
The Clean
Technology and
Sustainable
Industries
Organization (CTSI)
has selected 2011's
top 10 technologies
ready for Defense
applications out of
a field of 220
global energy
companies vetted.
08/20/2011
California
ARB LCFS
Advisory Panel
Meets on August
25-26,
2011
The California Air
Resources Board
(ARB) has issued a
notice with
location and
contact information
for the third Low
Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS)
Advisory Panel
Meeting on August
25 and 26, 2011.
08/20/2011
INEOS
Closes on $75MM
to Complete
Advanced Waste
to BioEnergy
Facility
INEOS New Planet
BioEnergy (INPB)
has finalized a $75
million round of
private financing,
backed by their
just-issued USDA
loan guarantee from
the 9003
Biorefinery
Assistance Program.
08/20/2011
HDSI
Acquires License
For Carbon
Capture and
Algal Biofuel
Technology
Rhode
Island base
HDS International
(HDSI) has entered
into an acquisition
agreement with
Hillwinds Ocean
Energy, LLC (HOEL),
a privately-held
carbon capture,
carbon
sequestration and
algae-for-biofuels
technology company,
and wholly owned
subsidiary of
Hillwinds Energy
Development
Corporation (HEDC).
08/19/2011
Greenstar
Wins Akron
Contract for
Recycling &
Waste Plastics
Conversion
The City
of Akron, Ohio, has
awarded a recycling
contract to Texas
company Greenstar
Recycling for
construction of a
single-stream
recycling
processing center
for the City's
curb-side pick-up
of recyclable
goods.
08/19/2011
Water
Buffalo Rumen
Enzymes
Characterized
for Cellulosic
Ethanol
Production
Taiwanese
researchers' work
published this
month in BioMed
Central's
Biotechnology for
Biofuels describes
gene and enzyme
activity of a
newly-isolated W5
strain of
Neocallimastix
patriciarum, an
anaerobic fungal
organism found in
water buffalo
digestive tracts.
08/19/2011
Synthesis
Energy
Successfully
Tests
Gasification of
Low-Grade
Chinese
Coal
Houston-based
Synthesis Energy
Systems, Inc. (SES)
has announced
successful 5-day
testing of its
advanced
gasification system
at its Zaozhuang
joint venture plant
in Shandong
Province, China.
SES licenses the
U-GAS® system from
Gasification
Technology
Institute (GTI),
focusing on the
clean conversion of
low-grade feedstock
including biomass
and coal, leaving
"better" fuels for
less resilient
technologies.
08/18/2011
Dynamotive
Seeks Expansion
of BioOil
Pyrolysis
Technology to SE
Asia
Canadian pyrolysis
specialists
Dynamotive Energy
Systems Corporation
(“Dynamotive”) has
announced signing
of a non-binding
six-month
extendable
Memorandum of
Understanding
(“MOU”) with
Genting Bio-Oil Sdn
Bhd (GBO) of
Malaysia, a
subsidiary of
Genting Berhad, to
explore market
development of the
company's pyrolysis
oil technology in
the Southeast (SE)
Asia Region.
08/18/2011
FuelCell
Power Plant
Converts
Wastewater
Biogas to H2 and
Electricity
A public/private
partnership that
includes FuelCell
Energy (FCE), Air
Products and the
National Fuel Cell
Research Center at
the University of
California, Irvine
has announced a
commissioning event
of a Direct
FuelCell (DFC®)
power plant that
converts wastewater
treatment biogas
from the Orange
County Sanitation
District (OCSD)
into 250 kilowatts
of electricity to
run the main
facility and pure
hydrogen (H2) for
on-site vehicle
fueling.
08/18/2011
Construction
Starts on
Lethbridge
Organic Waste to
Biogas
Facility
After a decade of
planning, ECB
Enviro North
America Inc. and
Canadian anaerobic
digestion (AD)
specialists PlanEt
Biogas Solutions
Inc have formed the
new partnership,
Lethbridge Biogas
LP, and have
announced start of
construction on
their 2.85 megawatt
biogas plant.
08/17/2011
DOE,
USDA, Navy
Partner to
Accelerate
Advanced Drop-in
Biofuel
Production
Responding to
President Obama's
Blueprint for A
Secure Energy
Future, the United
States Department
of Agriculture
(USDA), together
with the
Departments of
Energy (DOE) and
the Navy,have
announced a
three-year
initiative with a
$510 million budget
to speed
development of
large-volume
biorefineries that
can produce drop-in
aviation and marine
biofuels for
military and
commercial
transportation.
08/17/2011
LanzaTech
and Harsco Form
Alliance to
Convert Steel
Mill Emissions
to
Ethanol
New Zealand based
LanzaTech has
formed a strategic
alliance with
Harsco Corporation
for their first
agreement outside
of Asia.
08/16/2011
ZeaChem
and Chrysler
Sign MOU to
Fast-Track
Non-Food
Cellulosic
Biofuels
Colorado-based
ZeaChem Inc has
announced signing a
Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU)
with Chrysler Group
LLC for a strategic
alliance focused on
accelerating
development of
non-food cellulosic
ethanol.
08/16/2011
NABC
Selects Two
Drop-In Biofuel
Technology
Approaches for
Pilot
Projects
Ending their first
year of assessment
funded by the US
Department of
Energy (DOE), the
National Advanced
Biofuels Consortium
(NABC) has chosen
two advanced
biofuel technologic
approaches for
development support
that produce
engine-ready
"drop-in" biofuels.
08/16/2011
Veolia
Landfill Gas to
Energy Project
in Wisconsin is
Starting
Up
Veolia
Environmental
Services North
America will host
start-up ceremonies
at Veolia
Environmental
Services' Hickory
Meadows Landfill in
Hilbert, eastern
Wisconsin; the
ribbon-cutting
ceremony is set for
August 16, 2011.
08/15/2011
DOE
Researchers
Identify
Critical Gene
for Ethanol
Production
A broad
collaboration of
researchers working
through the
Department of
Energy's BioEnergy
Science Center
(BESC) has
identified a single
bacterial gene
critical to ethanol
production.
08/15/2011
Austrian
Researchers
Develop Fungal
Enzymes that
Break Down PET
Plastics
The Austrian Centre
of Industrial
Biotechnology
(ACIB) has
announced
development of
fungal-sourced
enzymes that
decompose
polyethylene
terephthalate (PET)
plastics into their
initial material
complement.
08/15/2011
The Week's
Action Items
Due
09/02/2011:
Comments on
Refined 4RFI
Proposed Action
Plan
The US
Forest Service is
seeking public
comment on their
refined action plan
for the Four
Forests Restoration
Initiative (4RFI),
a plan for
restoration
activities on about
600,000 acres of
the Coconino and
Kaibab National
Forests in central
and eastern
Arizona.
08/19/2011
Due
09/15/2011:
Applications for
Funding of
Biomass Boilers
in UK Social
Housing
The United
Kingdom's
Department of
Energy and Climate
(DECC) has
established a £3
million fund to
help put biomass
fueled "eco-heater"
boilers in
government-run low
income "social
housing", as part
of the UK's £15
million Renewable
Heat Premium
Payment budget.
08/17/2011
