Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue
31, September 26,
2011
Teru
Talk by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's
Trash Talk
Let's
start with the idea that
"energy" needs to get from
where it is made to
wherever it is to be used
to do work. "Energy" after
all is the Force,
and for the Force to Be
With You, it has to get
to
you.
If we
create the Force in one
location and gather it up
for use in another
location, we need something
to carry the Force.
Electricity is a carrier of
energy, as is Solid Fuel,
Liquid Fuel, and Gaseous
Fuel. They are all Energy
Carriers. When we generate
electricity by spinning
metal inside a wire bundle
(a generator), we do so to
create electricity that can
carry Energy from A to B.
When we make biogas using
anaerobic digestion or we
clean up the gas released
from super-heating
molecules, we've made a
different kind of Force
Carrier, but we do the same
thing: transfer Energy from
one place to another to
Perform Work. "Kinetic
Energy", the Force of
Movement, is the same; one
domino whacks another and
transfers that whack all
along the line of dominos,
effectively performing the
work needed to knock the
last domino over. When we
gather firewood and walk it
back to camp, the wood
(biomass) plus our walking
body combine to carry that
energy from source to
use.
"Energy"
isn't "Electricity" and as
far as Energy goes, there
is no difference between
electricity, solid fuel,
liquid fuel, gas, nuclear
fuel, or any other carrier
mechanism. Electricity is
just a cool way Humans have
figured out that gets
energy across distance.
When we make a critical
decision to focus on
forming clean, renewable,
sustainable energy, we are
figuring out how best to
get a Force to You to get
something done, without
making things worse than
they already are, and
without using up any more
of our precious finite
resources than
necessary.
We get so
carried away with Naming,
we forget what the words
mean.
Hey
Rube!
Lots
of attention is being paid
to regulating two kinds of
environmentally reasonable
energy carrier processes,
Biofuel and
Combined Heat and
Power. California,
Texas, New York … the
United Kingdom and Europe …
everybody's doin' it. Look
around at your own Agencies
of Purview and see if
they've figured out how to
boost heat recovery, how to
speed up clean biofuel
development. If you spot
something being done in
your area to promote Common
Sense Energy that Teru Talk
hasn't reported, let us
know and we'll help with
the tracking. If you DON'T,
call 'em up and ask 'em …
WHY
NOT?
The Week's
Extra Reading
Part
1 and Part
2 of Teru's
Focus Report on
California Bioresources
address current
industry and agency
perspectives
on organic
residuals
(bioresources, biomass).
The Week's
News
Flex OC
Renewables Selected for
OC Landfill Gas to
Energy
Project
California based
FlexEnergy, Inc's
subsidiary Flex OC
Renewables has been
selected by Orange County
to install and operate the
Santiago Canyon Landfill
Gas to Energy project.
09/23/2011
SVSWA
Approves Environmental
Funding for Plasco
Salinas Valley
Project
The Salinas Valley Solid
Waste Authority (SVSWA) has
announced that its Board
has approved funding for
preparation of an
Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) for the Plasco
Salinas Valley
Waste-to-Energy Project.
09/23/2011
Fulcrum
Bioenergy Files for IPO
to Construct Sierra
Biofuels Plant in
Nevada
Thermal conversion
technology specialist
Fulcrum Bioenergy, Inc has
filed a Form S-1 with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), offering
a total of $115 million.
09/23/2011
Edinburgh
Receives £1.3MM Grant
for Food Waste
Collection
Programme
A grant of £1.3million from
the Scottish Government's
Food Waste Programme has
been awarded by Zero Waste
Scotland to the City of
Edinburgh Council for
staged roll-out of food
waste collection to city
households.
09/23/2011
UK
Office of Fair Trading
Issues Guidance for
Organic Waste
Treatment
The United Kingdom (UK)
Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) has issued
recommendations intended to
encourage more efficient
management and resource
recovery from the country's
treatment of organic
wastes.
09/23/2011
Nexterra
Signs CRADA with UBC to
Advance Syngas
Conditioning
Nexterra Systems Corp. has
signed a collaborative
research and development
agreement (CRADA) with
University of British
Columbia (UBC) to advance
syngas conditioning
methodology based on
Nexterra's biomass
gasification system.
09/23/2011
Elevance
Files for $100 Million
Initial Public
Offering
Illinois based bio-chemical
company Elevance Renewable
Sciences, Inc has filed
Form S-1 with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) for an
initial public offering
(IPO) to raise $100
million.
09/22/2011
Chromatin Signs
MOU to Test Sorghum as
Feedstock for Power
Plants
Illinois based biomass
feedstock producer
Chromatin Inc has signed a
memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with subsidiaries of
Constellation Energy to
grow and harvest its
proprietary SweetFuel
strain of sorghum as
feedstock for power plants.
09/22/2011
Penn
State Researchers Use
Salt Water to Produce
Microbial H2 for
Energy
Pennsylvania State
University's Kappe
Professor of Environmental
Engineering Bruce Logan has
published new findings on
microbial electrolytic
production of hydrogen.
09/22/2011
California ARB
Schedules 2nd Mandatory
Public LCFS Update
Meeting
The California Air
Resources Board (ARB) has
announced the schedule for
its second and last
mandatory public update
meeting on the progress of
the Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS) Advisory
Panel for the morning of
Thursday, September 29,
2011 in Sacramento.
09/22/2011
Over
458,000 Micro-Biogas
Plants Installed in Asia
and Africa Since
1992
The humanitarian non-profit
international development
organization SNV
Netherlands has released
data on biogas systems
installed in underdeveloped
countries through
programmes that SNV
supports.
09/22/2011
Neste's
Production Capacity Now
at 2 MTPA with Rotterdam
Biodiesel
Plant
Finnish biofuel company
Neste Oil has announced
start-up of its fourth
flexible-feedstock
biodiesel and biofuel
additive production plant,
this time in Rotterdam, the
Netherlands.
09/21/2011
NTP
Issued to Construct
Turnkey 75MWe Biomass
Plant in New
Hampshire
Babcock & Wilcox
Construction Co., Inc., a
unit of The Babcock &
Wilcox Company ("B&W"),
has received Notice to
Proceed (NTP) with
immediate construction of a
75 megawatt Berlin, New
Hampshire biomass power
plant; the contract is
valued at $186 million.
09/21/2011
Eco
Ventures Group Secures
Funding, Begins Precious
Metals
Recovery
Tennessee based Eco
Ventures Group has secured
a firm letter of commitment
for $15.3 million from a
private funding group
through a new strategic
partnership.
09/21/2011
California ARB
Updates LCFS Carbon
Intensity Tables, Alt
Fuel
Pathways
The California Air
Resources Board (ARB) staff
has updated carbon
intensities (CIs) in the CI
Lookup Table and other
information regarding
biofuel producers
registered in the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
Biofuel Producer
Registration Program.
09/20/2011
SARTA
Will Host Utility Rate
Seminar for Clean Tech
Companies
The Sacramento Area
Regional Technology
Alliance (SARTA) will host
a short seminar,
"Navigating Utility Rate
Structures: What Clean Tech
Companies Need To Know",
from 8:30 to 11:30 am,
Wednesday, September 28,
2011 at Drexel University,
One Capital Mall, Suite
260, Sacramento,
California.
09/20/2011
UK JV
Wins £35MM Contract for
2 Sewage Sludge to
Biogas AD
Plants
The joint venture (JV)
between United Kingdom (UK)
construction company
Galliford Try and Imtech
Process, a UK water and
waste engineering firm, has
been awarded a £35 million
contract to develop two
advanced anaerobic
digestion (AD) plants for
Anglian Water's wastewater
treatment plants (WWTP) in
Basildon and Ipswich.
09/20/2011
Purdue
Researchers Dry Corn
Ethanol for Biofuel with
Tapioca
Researchers at Purdue
University College of
Engineering in association
with Archer Daniels Midland
have announced development
of a very natural and
environmentally friendly
way to absorb the water
from ethanol when making
biofuel: Tapioca
Pearls.
09/19/2011
Agrokor
Receives €5 MM Loan for
Croatian Waste to Biogas
CHP Plant
Croatian firm Agrokor Group
has announced that the
European Bank for
Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) has
approved a €5 million loan
to back development of
Croatia's first combined
heat and power anaerobic
digestion biogas plant.
09/19/2011
The Week's Action
Items
Due
09/28/2011: Proposals
for Zacatecas Mexico
Landfill Gas Feasibility
Study
The US Trade and
Development Agency (USTDA)
has issued a Request for
Qualifications and
Proposals on behalf of the
Municipal Government of
Zacatecas for a Feasibility
Study to determine landfill
gas project viability in
Zacatecas, Mexico.
09/20/2011
Due
10/13/2011:
Pre-Qualification
Application to NYSERDA
for RPS
Attributes
The New York State Energy
Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA) has
released Request for
Proposals (RFP) No. 2389,
seeking to purchase up to
$150 million in Renewable
Portfolio Standard (RPS)
Attributes associated with
electricity generated on or
after January 1, 2012 from
eligible Bid Facilities
that enter Commercial
Operation between January
1, 2003 and on or before
December 31, 2012.
09/22/2011
Due
12/05/2011: Applications
for Midwest Clean Energy
Challenge
The Clean Energy Trust
(CET) has announced the
2012 Clean Energy
Challenge, an annual
business plan competition
bringing funding and
mentoring to promising
Early Stage and Seed Stage
businesses.
09/23/2011
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