Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
29, September 12,
2011
Teru
Talk by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's
Trash Talk
Consider
bacteria and fungi that
live happily in panda guts,
elephant intestines, water
buffalo bellies, and don't
forget to mention the
Active Ingredient in
termites. It's all
"intestinal flora", the
specialized microbes that
eat wood and break it down
to sugar-food that its host
critter can use for fuel.
Now we've figured out that
we should be training those
same bugs to work for
us, taking the
non-fermentable cellulose
in plant cell walls and
churning out things like
butanol and succinic acid,
bio-sourced foundation
chemicals and drop-in fuel
components. OK, I'm
amazed.
So, that
got me thinking about
"wild" burros who were
actually surviving escapees
from pack trains dating
back to the Spaniards in
the 1500's. I've watched
them eat their way right
through waist-high cactus
plants, inch-long spines
and all. Scientifically
dubbed Equus asinus,
burros are apparently just
about immune to most
internal parasites. Jacks
and Jennies tend to be less
destructive than cattle,
horses, humans, to fragile
desert environs, but aren't
"native", so have long been
on the federal Hit-List for
elimination from our
southwest desert National
Parks. As sure as there is
Panda Poop, those hardy
burros must have some
serious wood-eating
microbes inside,
super-bugs capable of
turning cactus thorns into
desert candy.
You've
seen it here first: Teru
predicts the Next Big
Source for finding those
amazing bio-conversion
microbes will be in
steamin' heaps of Donkey
Doo.
Hey
Rube!
You
probably did already, but
if you didn't, take your
hat off. Sunday was
9/11.
The Week's
News
CEC
Adopts 2011-2012
Investment Plan for
Alternative and
Renewable
Fuels
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) last week
unanimously adopted the
state's third annual
transportation energy
Investment Plan (2011-2012)
for the Alternative and
Renewable Fuel and Vehicle
Technology Program.
09/11/2011
EPA
Bioresources Alliance
Symposium – September
13-14 in
Sacramento
Region 9 of the US
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) will present
the California Bioresources
Alliance 6th Annual
Symposium (formerly the
"Pacific Southwest Organic
Residuals Symposium") in
Sacramento on September 13
and 14, 2011; Teru will
cover the event.
09/11/2011
UK Seeks
"Informal Evidence" from
Stakeholders for
Bio-Energy
Strategy
The United Kingdom's
Department for Transport's
September Newsletter has
announced that they are
assisting the Department of
Energy and Climate Change
(DECC) in seeking
stakeholder views over the
coming months on the
development of a formal
bioenergy strategy.
09/11/2011
Gevo's
2nd Off-Take Agreement
Part of Strategic
Alliance with Mansfield
Oil
Colorado based isobutanol
specialist company Gevo has
entered a three-part
strategic alliance with
privately-held downstream
oil firm Mansfield Oil
Company (Mansfield).
09/09/2011
New
Hampshire PUC Expands
Program for Wood Pellet
Central Heating
Rebates
The New Hampshire Public
Utilities Commission (PUC)
has expanded their
residential Bulk-Fuel Wood
Pellet Central Boilers and
Furnaces program to include
central heating systems
that are housed outdoors.
09/09/2011
SITA UK
Gets Approval for
Integrated Recycling /
Waste to Energy and Fuel
Plant
The integrated waste
management firm SITA UK
has
received approval from the
Development Control (North)
committee of the Bristol
City Council to build an
end-of-life plastics to
diesel facility in
Avonmouth, a port and
suburb of Bristol, England,
and to double the capacity
of a previously approved
recycling facility.
09/09/2011
New
Earth Solutions Opens
Solid Waste Treatment
Facility in
Avonmouth
Dorset-based New Earth
Solutions Group Ltd has
announced formal opening of
their largest waste
treatment and resource
recovery facility, located
in Avonmouth near Bristol,
England.
09/09/2011
Pursuit
Dynamics to Install PDX
ERS at 2nd Marquis
Energy Ethanol
Plant
United Kingdom based
Pursuit Dynamics (PDX) has
announced its second
agreement with Marquis
Energy for installation of
its Ethanol Reactor System
(PDX ERS), this time in
Marquis' Necedah, Wisconsin
plant, which produces 70
million gallon/year corn
ethanol, 181,000 ton/year
dry distiller's grain
solute (DDGS), and 1.4
million gallon per year
corn oil.
09/08/2011
Primus
Green Energy Expands
Hillsborough Plant
Drop-in Biofuels
Capacity
Primus Green Energy has
expanded its main facility
in Hillsborough, New
Jersey, allowing scale-up
completion of its biomass
gasification and syngas
upgrading processing train
for production of drop-in
bio-gasoline fuel.
09/08/2011
UK
All-Party Group Releases
"Rubbish to Resource"
Report
The Associate Parliamentary
Sustainable Resource Group
(APSRG), an "all-party"
organization established to
encourage non-partisan
debate in the United
Kingdom (UK), has released
its new research report
"Rubbish to Resource:
Financing New Waste
Infrastructure".
09/08/2011
Microbes
Generate Electricity
While Cleaning Up
Nuclear
Waste
AgBioResearch
microbiologists at Michigan
State University have
released their findings on
research into how
Geobacter bacteria
can generate harvestable
electricity while
decontaminating nuclear
waste.
09/08/2011
MagneGas
to Supply Waste-Sourced
Industrial Gas to
Michigan Fabrication
Plant
Florida-based plasma arc
company MagneGas
Corporation will start
supplying its liquid
waste-sourced MagneGas to
Mayo Welding and
Fabrication in Royal Oak,
Michigan, through its
strategic partner, Blue
Water Industrial Products.
09/07/2011
Diageo
Submits Plans for 3rd
Scotch Distillery
Bioenergy
Plant
Premium alcoholic drink
company Diageo PLC
announced expansion of
their "sustainable scotch
whisky" development with
their third
distillery-based bioenergy
facility, upon submission
of their planning
application to Moray
Council, Scotland.
09/07/2011
E.ON and
Wheelabrator to Develop
Sustainable Waste to
Energy Plant At Kemsley
Mill
DS
Smith Paper, the United
Kingdom's (UK) largest
waste paper recycling and
paper manufacturing
company, has announced that
E.ON and Wheelabrator will
develop and operate a new
Sustainable Energy Plant
that will be fueled with
non-recyclable waste.
09/06/2011
Pacific
Pyrolysis Accepts $4.5MM
AU Support for Melbourne
Biochar
Plant
The
Australian Securities
Exchange (ASX) has
announced that the
Victorian Ministry for
Energy and Resources
(Agency) has offered
conditional funding of $4.5
million AU to Pacific
Pyrolysis Pty Ltd (PacPyro)
under the Agency's
Sustainable Energy Pilot
Demonstration Program,
implementing part of its
Energy Technology
Innovation Strategy.
09/06/2011
The Week's
Action Items
Due
12/02/2011: Proposals to
NSF for SBIR Program
Phase
I
The
National Science Foundation
(NSF) requests proposals
for its Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR)
Program Phase I.
09/06/2011
Due
10/06/2011: Abstracts
for PIER Emerging
Technology
Due 12/22/2011: Final
Proposals for PIER Emerging
Technology
The
California Energy
Commission (CEC) through
its Public Interest Energy
Research (PIER) program is
requesting proposals for
the 2011 Emerging
Technology Demonstration
Grant Program, focusing on
improving both electricity
and natural gas energy
efficiency for industrial,
agricultural, water and
wastewater, data centers,
and customer-side energy
storage applications and
services.
09/06/2011
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