Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
28, September 6,
2011
Teru
Talk by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's
Trash Talk
Oh, boy!
Clean Energy, Clean
Chemistry! Clean Fuels! We
need to ask the question,
"Clean, compared to what?"
What is the basis of the
comparison, and how much of
the life-cycle
(source-to-gas pump) are we
comparing? Counting
emissions from industry
reminds me of counting
calories in a diet … there
are a whole lot more
calories in a tablespoon of
fat than in a tablespoon
of, well, almost anything
else. If you want to really
cut your caloric intake,
you have to know what packs
the biggest
punch.
Same
thing with emissions, some
things we do will always
crud up our world a lot
more than others, and we
would be wise to fix the
worst offenders first.
That's the essence of the
EPA's message in their
assessment of one of the
very nastiest of toxic
emissions, the dreaded
Dioxins: No New Sources -
Replace older, dirtier
processes with newer,
cleaner methods and
equipment.
It is not
enough to simply rip out
older technology and
replace it with the newest
gear. We need to keep in
mind that any sort of
equipment can be run clean,
or run dirty; it depends on
equipment design AND on the
operator's skill and
maintenance habits. EPA
found that each industrial
sector could vary from way
below limits to far above
reason. You buy a cheap
car, use cheap gas and
don't change the oil, you
run a dirty car. Same old
car, properly maintained
and running on modern
low-carbon biofuel, it's a
Classic that purrs and make
you proud. You skimp on the
waste conversion
technology, don't pay
attention to the input and
don't keep your emissions
control systems up to par,
you run a dirty conversion
system. Same simple retort
or digester given an even
flow of simple feedstock
and pampered by a
fastidious maintenance crew
can beat the SOx off the
competition.
Measurable
direct emission
reductions seen in engine
exhaust can be compared
one-on-one; indirect
reductions such as releases
during fuel production take
a bit more finesse to tease
out. So, inquiring minds
should want to know:
"Clean, compared to
what?"
Hey
Rube!
Listen carefully
to how the Buzz Words are
being used. Not long ago,
it was "renewable" this and
"renewable" that. More
recently, we have been
trying to figure out what
"sustainable" means, in the
same energy-fuel-chemical
context. Now, we hear our
national Admin say "Clean
Energy", "Clean Fuels" and
checking the Agenda, see
that this time, nuclear
energy gets to join the
party. Guess that rings
better than "sustainable
nuclear". It is always good
to check your
precepts.
The Week's
News
Australian
Consortium Focusing on
Jet Fuel from Biomass
Now Includes
GE
GE has joined the
Australian consortium for
the development of biomass
to aviation biofuel that
was announced in July
2011.
09/05/2011
Harvest
Power Raises $1.25MM on
New $2.25 MM Equity
Funding
Round
With $1 million of equity
remaining for sale in this
round, Harvest Power, Inc
has filed SEC Form D for a
total offering of $2.25
million.
09/05/2011
Fire
Prevention Fee Debates
Now Include Proposed
ABx1-24 and
SBx1-7
California Governor Jerry
Brown has presented a
proposal to the legislature
to clean up the language in
the State
Responsibility Area
(
SRA
)
Fire Prevention Fund
(ABx1-29) that he
signed last
month.
09/05/2011
Joule
and Solazyme Named 2012
Tech Pioneers by World
Economic
Forum
Each year, the World
Economic Forum selects 25
industry-changing companies
among hundreds nominated
from around the globe as
Technology
Pioneers.
09/05/2011
White
House Asks EPA to Defer
Draft Ozone Rule Until
2013 Review
Cycle
President Obama has
requested that the US
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Administrator
Lisa Jackson withdraw the
draft rule regarding Ozone
National Ambient Air
Quality Standards,
recommending that the EPA
wait until completion of
the scientific review
currently underway.
09/03/2011
Trillium
FiberFuels Receives 2nd
SBIR Award in 2011 for
New Marine
Enzyme
Corvallis, Oregon based
biofuels pre-treatment
specialists Trillium
FiberFuels has now received
their second Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR)
Phase I grant for "Xylose
Isomerase from Marine
Bacteria for Cellulosic
Ethanol".
09/03/2011
DTSC
Hosts Green Chemistry
Symposium on Industry
Practices in Product
R&D
California's Department of
Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC) "Green Chemistry"
regulatory development
program will present a free
symposium on September 15,
2011 in Sacramento,
convening a panel of
consumer product
manufacturing
representatives.
09/03/2011
TEG and
Alkane Win Bid for Welsh
Food Waste AD
Facility
United Kingdom energy firms
TEG Environmental and
Alkane Energy Plc have
announced their successful
bid for development of a
20,000 tonne per year food
waste anaerobic digestion
(AD) facility in North East
Wales.
09/01/2011
Honeywell's UOP
Starts Construction on
Demo Integrated
Biorefinery in
Hawaii
Honeywell's subsidiary UOP
LLC has announced the start
of construction of their
biomass to liquid fuel
integrated biorefinery in
Kapolei, Hawaii.
09/01/2011
California's AB
1178 on Origin of Solid
Waste Pulled, Will Try
Again Next
Year
Assembly Bill (AB) 1178 as
proposed by Assemblywoman
Fiona Ma would prohibit any
California city or county
from enacting an ordinance
which restricts importation
of solid waste to a
privately held landfill
based on that waste's
"place of origin".
09/01/2011
Bacteria
Identified in Panda
Feces Are Able to
Pre-Treat Biomass for
Biofuels
Associate
Professor Dr. Ashli
Brown and her
Mississippi State
University team have
isolated cellulolytic
anaerobic bacteria that
efficiently digest woody
food in a giant panda's
gut, converting up to
95% of the
lignocellulose in 20 to
40 pounds per day of
bamboo to sugar.
08/31/2011
DOE
Awards $12MM in Support
of Three Drop-In
Biofuels
Projects
US
Department of Energy (DOE)
Secretary Steven Chu has
announced dedication of $4
million in grant funding
for each of three
small-scale biofuels
development and
commercialization efforts.
08/31/2011
BioAmber
Plans Commercial
Bio-Sourced Succinic
Acid Plant in
Canada
Bluewater
Chemicals, Inc, a
subsidiary of BioAmber
Inc, will construct a
commercial scale
bio-sourced succinic
production facility in
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada,
with the support of CAD
$35 million in grants
and loans from the
Ontario Ministry for
Economic Development and
Trade (MEDT).
08/31/2011
Nexterra's
Biomass Gasification
Installation Among
Cleanest in North
America
Nexterra's
biomass gasification
installation at the
Prince George campus of
the University of
Northern British
Columbia (UNBC) shows
substantially lower
emissions when compared
to 17 modern,
conventional biomass
combustion facilities in
North America.
08/30/2011
Tulane
University Turns
Newspaper to Bio-butanol
- Seeks Commercial
Partners
Researchers
at Tulane University in
New Orleans have been
experimenting with a
bacterium named TU-103
that can directly
convert newspaper and
other cellulosic biomass
into butanol.
08/30/2011
The Week's
Action Items
Due
09/30/2011: Response to
USAF on Advanced Drop-In
Biofuels
Capabilities
The US
Departments of Energy
and Agriculture together
with the US Navy have
issued a Request for
Information
(RFI-11-27-PKM) to
accelerate biofuels
public/private
partnership development.
08/31/2011
Due
10/31/2011: Comments on
EPA Draft n-Butanol
Toxicological
Review
The US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has
announced a 60-day public
comment period and
informational listening
session for their draft
toxicological review of
n-Butanol, supporting
information now included in
their Integrated Risk
Information System (IRIS).
09/04/2011
Due
11/04/2011: Proposals
for Central Maui
Landfill Gas Utilization
Project
The
County of Maui, Hawaii,
has released a Request
for Proposals (RFP No.
11-12 / P-15) from
developers for
utilization of landfill
gas sufficient to
produce about 1 megawatt
of electricity.
08/30/2011
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