Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I, Issue 35,
October 24,
2011
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's
Trash Talk
A lot
has happened
to California
waste management
oversight over the
last, oh, 22 years
since the passage of
the Integrated Waste
Management Act. Since
2003, maybe, a lot of
us have been saying
that much of those regs
need a good going over.
Watch closely now,
because the Working
Brains in the state
agency are now at the
task and clearly making
progress. A statewide
Program Enviromental
Impact Assessment for
anaerobic digestion is
on the way and before
the PEIR tome is even
completely Legal, a
whole lot of
municipalities are
finding it very Useful.
Now, staff has lain out
a dozen Issues they
believe need to be
reconsidered for
changes the underlying
Regs, areas that in
many cases have been
burrs under the
state-wide waste
management saddle since
the Act blossomed. Over
the next month or so,
core staff has got the
tweezers and the
magnifying glass busy,
teasing out those
untenable Gorgon’s
knots. It’s a lesson
for everyone: the mess
we have gotten our
collective selves into
isn’t simple, but it IS
fixable. We just have
to check our precepts,
pick up our tools, and
get
started.
So,
speaking of precepts,
let’s check a few of
the more interesting
corners we’ve painted
ourselves into. For
example: Is “recycling”
still Good and Clean
when we bundle up the
stuff we pick outta the
trash and then ship it
off the continent? Why
is it OK to require all
sorts of quality
controls on Composting,
but ignore the same
organics when the only
handling applied is to
grind it up? Or, why
CAN’T we make Food
Waste Soup and add it
to digesters, if the
World now knows it
accomplishes better
biogas production? And
… If the gritty crud
that comes off the
conveyor belts in a
Materials Recovery
Facility STILL contains
50%+ organics as well
as reclaimable glass,
plastic and even
precious metal, why is
it still headed
straight for the
Landfill? Try this:
What is wrong with
permitting a waste
conversion “process”
that recovers useful
goods and is Clearly
Not Disposal, within a
permitting category
called Processing?
Tangled and conflicting
regulations, Rules that
we have all built, or
perhaps allowed to be
built for us, layer
upon layer with surely
excellent intentions
but not enough common
sense. Time for a
thorough House
Cleaning.
Hey Rube!
The
Sacramento
Clean Tech
Showcase is
taking place on Monday
(that's today!), October
24, 2011 at Sacramento
State University. Teru
will be one of the
featured speakers for
the "Renewable Biofuels"
session. Tickets
are available at the
door if you don't have
yours.
The Week's
News
Pacific
Ethanol Contracted to
Run ZeaChem’s Oregon
Biorefinery
California company Pacific
Ethanol has announced a
contract between the firm’s
Management Services
subsidiary (Pacific
Services) and Colorado
based ZeaChem to provide
operations, maintenance and
accounting services for the
firm’s 250,000 gallon per
year advanced biofuel
refinery in Boardman,
Oregon.
10/23/2011
Amyris
Signs MOU with Brazilian
ETH Bioenergia for
Biofene
Production
California’s Amyris, Inc
has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with
the Brazilian biofuel and
biochemical producer ETH
Bioenergia, a subsidiary of
Odebrecht S.A., with the
intent to form a joint
venture (JV) for production
of Amyris’
Biofene®.
10/23/2011
University
Researchers Characterize
High-Lignin Biomass
Feedstock
Pyrolysis
Researchers from the
Department of Horticulture
and the Center for Applied
Energy Research, University
of Kentucky, and the
Department of Chemical
Engineering at the
University of Massachusetts
have published their work
on the identification and
characterization of
compounds produced during
pyrolysis of high-lignin
biomass
feedstock10/23/2011
Korean
Award Honors Waste to
Bioenergy
Research
National Cheng Kung
University (NCKU) Professor
Wen-Teng Wu has been
honored with a Research
Exchange Award from the
Korean Society for
Biotechnology and
Bioengineering (KSBB) for
his work promoting
international collaboration
among Asian countries for
biotechnology development.
10/21/2011
Neste
Oil Wins Top 2011
International BioFuels
Technology Award for Jet
Fuel
Finland’s Neste Oil has
received first place at the
International Biofuels 2011
Awards as Biofuels
Technology of the Year,
recognizing the company’s
successful development of
the NExBTL aviation fuel
platform.
10/21/2011
Ferrum
College Starts
Construction on Waste
Biomass Boiler for New
CHP
Facility
Virginia’s Ferrum
College has begun
construction on a biomass
boiler for its new biomass
fueled combined heat and
power (CHP) facility,
called the English Biomass
Energy and Research Complex
(designed by the Richmond,
Virginia firm English
Boiler and Tube, Inc).
10/21/2011
CalRecycle
Plans Cleanup of Waste
Management
Regulations
At an informal
afternoon workshop
following the department’s
October 18, 2011 monthly
meeting, Department
of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle
) staff
presented a suite of twelve
key Issues regarding
inadequacies and conflicts
within the State’s Title 14
and Title 27 regulatory
areas, along with potential
approaches for developing
draft changes to address
the
conflicts. 10/21/2011
Cyclone
Power Successfully Tests
All-Fuel Waste Heat
Engine
A major step toward
commercialization has been
announced by Florida-based
Cyclone Power Technologies,
with successful testing of
the firm’s all-fuel Waste
Heat Engine WHE-25 in
partnership with Phoenix
Power Group LLC.
10/20/2011
AB 341
Moves Proposed Regs for
Mandatory Commercial
Recycling to
CalRecycle
On the second day of the
California Air Resources
Board (ARB) public hearing
scheduled for October 20
and 21, 2011, staff of the
ARB and the Department of
Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) will
provide the ARB with an
update on how requirements
of Assembly Bill (AB) 341
will now fit with the ARB’s
implementation of AB 32.
10/19/2011
California DFA
Schedules Inedible
Material (Food Waste)
Disposal
Workshop
The California Department
of Food and Agriculture’s
(CDFA) Meat, Poultry and
Egg Safety Branch (MPES)
will meet on October 27,
2011 to discuss the current
regulatory framework
related to handling
meat-based food waste and
kitchen grease.
10/19/2011
Abengoa
to Construct $120MM
Integrated Biorefinery
in
Uruguay
The international
sustainable development
company Abengoa will
construct a US $120 million
integrated biorefinery for
Alcoholes del Uruguay
(ALUR) in the Department of
Paysandú, Uruguay.
10/18/2011
BenchMark
Energy Corporation to
Acquire 49% of Energy
Partners
Newly formed Texas
renewable energy company
BenchMark Energy
Corporation has announced
an agreement to acquire 49%
of Indiana-based Energy
Partners LLC with an option
to purchase the remaining
51%.
10/18/2011
Maersk
Line and US Navy to Use
Emsys to Test Marine
Biofuels
Emissions
Maersk Line, has selected
Virginia-based W.R.
System’s Emsys™ laser-based
emissions monitoring system
(EMS) in its collaboration
with the US Navy to test
emissions of marine
biofuels for long-term use.
10/18/2011
Envergent and
Green Fuel Nordic Sign
MOU for Biomass to
Biofuels in
Finland
Envergent Technologies LLC
has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with
Finland’s Green Fuel Nordic
Oy to collaborate on
conversion of forest
biomass residues to liquid
fuel.
10/17/2011
The Week's Action
Items
Due
11/30/2011: Proposals to
Maryland for Renewable
Energy from Animal
Waste
Maryland’s
Department of General
Services (DGS) has
announced release of
request
for proposal (RFP)
#001IT818620 to generate
renewable energy from
animal waste as part of the
state’s Clean Bay Power
project, an effort to
increase renewable energy
while reducing nutrient
run-off into the Chesapeake
Bay.
10/17/2011
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