Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
30, September 19,
2011
Teru
Talk by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
The
Sacramento region's
Million Gallon
Challenge for advanced
biofuels will be
presented in a free
webinar
this
Tuesday, September
20, 2011 at 11:00 am
PDT. Teru will be
one of the featured
speakers. You can
register online,
but
hurry.
Teru's
Trash Talk
For some
reason, the Nay Sayers are
not frowning so much on
Bio-Fuels and
Bio-chemicals, as they have
been for so long on
Bio-Electricity. If we make
some chemicals out of
bio-this-'n-that, we're
only putting some more
chemicals into the Global
Value Chain, into a
marketplace that continues
to gobble up anything
Bo-Sourced. When we make
electricity out of
bio-stuff, it seems we are
competing head to head with
Those That Control the rest
of the electricity, the
entrenched Utilities. The
Chemical Industry is
presently buying up one
after another of those
nifty biotech companies
that make foundation
chemicals like succinic
acid and the Oil Industry
has been grabbing up the
techy specialists that
create drop-in biofuels.
What is it about
bio-sourced electricity
generation that sets
Utilities' teeth on edge?
Why aren't those giants
grabbing up bio-power
generators left and
right?
First of
all, there is a WHOLE LOT
MORE MONEY, pound for
converted pound, in
chemicals and fuels than
there ever was, or probably
ever will be, in
electricity. Second, you
can make chemicals and
fuels and set them aside
until the market is willing
to pay more for them,
instead of making and
selling electricity on the
spot, as generated, for
whatever the momentary
tariff will afford. Third,
you can stick chemicals
together with other
chemicals to make more
costly chemicals; you can
refine raw biofuels into
other more costly biofuels.
Fourth … well, you get the
idea: it's the Money, as
always.
Now, we
certainly NEED renewable,
bio-sourced, base-load
electricity. Solar and wind
only spin the meter when
the sun and the wind are
respectively so inclined.
Biopower cranks along, day
and night, providing that
surety of minimum service
that everything else can
depend on. But the Bang for
the Buck is seldom
sufficient … unless,
perhaps, you are serving
your own on-site needs (DG,
or distributed generation),
you are also using the
thermal energy for heating
and cooling (combined heat
and power, or CHP) or … or
you figure out how to FIRST
make chemicals and/or fuel,
then use what's left to
make
electricity.
Power's
so last week. Chemicals and
Fuels are where it's
at.
Hey
Rube!
In
case you hadn't noticed,
California's got a savvy
ol' bird in the Gov's seat
these days, one that isn't
in there for the flash, one
that quietly is doing the
work. To get that work
done, Governor Brown has
put a few Newly Chosen in
key spots and given
all the agencies
walking orders to figure
out how to more effectively
utilize Biomass. CEC and
CDFA meet this coming week
to hash out how biofuels
development should fit into
the AB 118 games and they
are "seeking stakeholder
input". So … INPUT, for
goodness
sake!
The Week's
Extra Reading
Teru participated in the
California Bioresources
Alliance 6th Annual
Symposium put on by
the EPA Region 9 last week
in Sacramento. Teru's Focus
Report on the symposium,
California Bioresources
- Part
1, addresses the
industry and agency
perspectives
on organic residuals
(bioresources, biomass). Part
2 will be posted to Teru
Talk later
today.
The Week's
News
Saria
Invests in PDM Group,
PDM Opens 1st ReFood
Waste Digester in
UK
German-based
Saria Industries has
secured a majority equity
interest in the United
Kingdom's (UK) PDM Group
after the two firms have
worked in partnership for
several years.
09/18/2011
Mascoma
Corporation Plans
Initial Public Offering
to Raise
$100MM
New Hampshire-based Mascoma
Corporation has filed a
Form S-1 with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), seeking
to raise up to $100 million
in equity investments
through an initial public
offering (IPO).
09/18/2011
EPA
Submits Biogenic CO2
Report to Science
Advisory Board for
Review
The US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Office of Atmospheric
Programs has released a
substantive report for peer
review entitled "Accounting
Framework for Biogenic CO2
Emissions from Stationary
Sources".
09/18/2011
Alphabet
Energy Secures $12MM in
Equity Funding for Waste
Heat
Conversion
San Francisco based
Alphabet Energy has
increased their financial
base in a Series E round of
equity placement, raising
$12 million with TPG
Biotech, the life science
venture investment arm of
TPG leading the round.
09/17/2011
OPEC
Project Will Produce
Green Chemicals from
Food
Waste
The United Kingdom's
University of York Green
Chemistry Centre of
Excellence has announced a
multi-national project to
develop and commercialize a
new microwave-based process
that can isolate valuable
biochemicals from citrus
processing wastes.
09/17/2011
BioAmber
Selected for Bio-PBS
Production Plant in
Thailand
Minnesota's bio-sourced
succinic acid specialists
BioAmber, Inc will partner
with PTTMCC Biochem Company
for a biosourced
polybutylene succinate
(Bio-PBS) plant in
Thailand.
09/17/2011
Oxford
Catalysts Wins
Kirkpatrick Engineering
Excellence
Award
Oxford Catalysts Group Plc
(OCG), a United Kingdom
based specialist in
catalysis for synthetic oil
production, has won the
prestigious 2011
Kirkpatrick Chemical
Engineering Achievement
Award.
09/16/2011
FlexEnergy
Applauds CPUC's Re-Up of
the Self-Generation
Incentive
Program
Clean power systems
developer FlexEnergy, whose
250 kilowatt Flex Turbine
and Flex Powerstation will
qualify under the
California Public Utilities
Commission's (CPUC)
recently approved
Self-Generation Incentive
Program (SGIP; SB 412 of
2009), notes that
biogas-fueled combined heat
and power (CHP)
applications can receive up
to 60% of project costs or
$2,500 per kilowatt in
incentives.
09/16/2011
New
Texas Law Will Simplify
Emissions Permitting to
Boost CHP
Applications
Texas House Bill 3268,
signed into law in June by
Governor Rick Perry,
required the Texas
Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ) to simplify
air quality emissions
permitting for combined
heat and power (CHP)
systems.
09/16/2011
Global
Biofuel Information Tool
Provides Map Based
Overview of
Biofuels
The Center for
International Forestry
Research (CIFOR) has
created and made available
free of charge an on-line
interactive map-based
overview of biofuel
development, the Global
Biofuel Information Tool
(GBIT).
09/14/2011
ACEEE
Expands Program for
Behavior and Human
Dimensions
The American Council for an
Energy Efficient Economy
(ACEEE) has announced a key
addition to its staff and
expansion of its assessment
capacity with the selection
of Fulbright recipient
Susan Mazur-Stommen as the
Director of Behavior and
Human Dimensions.
09/14/2011
International
Alternative Fuel
Technology Center Opens
in San
Antonio
The Texas based Southwest
Research Institute (SwRI)
has announced the launch of
its cross-disciplinary
International Alternative
Fuel Technology Center
(IAFTC) to help its clients
reduce dependence on fossil
fuels, and drive forward
state and federal mandates
for alternative fuel
production and reduced
emissions standards.
09/13/2011
EPA
Hosts Free Webinar on
GHG Regs for Combined
Heat and Power
Systems
The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Combined Heat and Power
Partnership program will be
hosting a webinar this
Thursday, September 15,
2011 to highlight new
greenhouse gas (GHG)
permitting regulations
specifically for combined
heat and power (CHP)
systems, focusing on "GHG
Requirements for CHP
Systems.".
09/13/2011
California
Agriculture Biofuel
Forum Scheduled for
September 22,
2011
The California Department
of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) and the California
Energy Commission (CEC)
will be holding a
joint-agency public forum
on agriculture business and
the biofuel industry, and
is seeking public input.
09/13/2011
The Week's Action
Items
Due
10/03/2011: Comments to
CDFA-CEC on California
Agriculture Biofuel
Issues
The California Department
of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) and the California
Energy Commission (CEC) is
seeking public comment from
the agriculture business
and the biofuel industry on
California agriculture
biofuels issues.
09/14/2011
Due
11/03/2011: Proposals
for High Value
Biochemical
Development
The United Kingdom's (UK)
Technology Strategy Board
(TSB) is opening a
competitive grants program
to fund the development and
commercialization of
processes to manufacture
bio-sourced chemicals.
09/17/2011
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