Teru Talk
Newsletter
Volume I,
Issue 9
-
April 25,
2011
Teru Talk
by Michael Theroux
(pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash
Talk
What
is "Green Technology",
after all? What do folks think
of, when they Think Green? This
week at the Green California
Summit and Expo, touring the
Exhibit Hall and chatting up
the hundred plus vendors, it'
easy to see what they
think Green is: lights and
insulation, natural soaps and
bio-products, and Recycling, in
all its many-splendored
Thingies (stay tuned: Teru Talk
will post a Report on the
Summit this coming
week).
Waste
Conversion is making headway,
if not into the Main Stream, at
least from eddy to eddy along
the banks. Waste oil to
Biodiesel got vendor
representation; we even had a
MBT come over from Carson City
(yes, they musta let 'em past
the blockade). As logical as
closed loop conversion of
on-site waste to combined
cooling, heating and fuels
might seem, there is no Seat at
the Table as a LEEDs player,
nor are there any hints of even
voluntary encouragements in
California's Building Standards
community. Ah, well … we just
have to keep pushing, and keep
showing off our Highly
Successful Projects. And yes,
we DO have "highly successful
projects": just keep an eye on
Teru Talk News!
Hey
Rube!
You've got
about one month now to
file an
application with the EPA
to help assess ways we can
put Renewables on some of
the 11,000 contaminated
sites they track. Here's a
thought we're working on:
plant stuff that sucks up
contaminants out the dirt
and water
(phyto-remediation) and
"bio-crop" it as fuel for
energy generation in clean
conversion systems. We've
posted an
article on the idea,
focused on the muck and goo
south of the Salton Sea in
Imperial
County.
The Week's
News
Lignol Completes Commercial
Biorefinery Design
Package
Canadian advanced biofuels and
green chemicals company Lignol
has developed an engineering
design package for an
economical, commercial-scale
Biorefinery.
04/23/2011
Update: LCFS Posts Draft
Guidance on Ultra-Low Carbon
Fuels
The California Low Carbon Fuel
Standards (LCFS) Advisory Panel
has posted a draft outline and
guidance document on Ultra-Low
Carbon Fuels to their website
in preparation for their
meeting on April 26, 2011.
04/23/2011
Update: Adama Tech Selling
Romanian MSW Gasification
Project
Israeli based Adama
Technologies has signed a
non-binding term sheet to sell
its assets in its proposed
municipal solid waste (MSW)
gasification plant in
Bucharest, Romania.
04/23/2011
AE Advanced Fuels Keyes
Receives $1.88MM Grant from
CEC
AE Advanced Fuels Keyes Inc (AE
Keyes), has been awarded a
$1.88 million matching funds
grant by the California Energy
Commission (CEC) to accelerate
the commercial implementation
of its enzyme based cellulosic
ethanol production technology.
04/23/2011
MHI to Make Ethanol from "Soft
Cellulose" Rice and Barley
Straw
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
(MHI) has successfully
completed technology, product
and economic verification to
meet Japanese Automotive
Standards Organization (JASO)
standards for production of
ethanol transport fuel from
rice and barley straw "soft
cellulose".
04/23/2011
KBR Awarded Two Contracts for
Renewable Energy
Facilities
KBR, Inc has received a
contract award from KiOR, Inc
to provide engineering,
procurement and construction
(EPC) services to build a
biomass to liquid fuel facility
to process approximately 500
tons per day of wood biomass
and produce over 11 million
gallons of fuel per year.
04/22/2011
BioGas Processing Facility
Breaks Ground at Point Loma
WWTP
Construction has begun on the
Trident BioFuels Energy Gas
Processing Facility at the 240
million gallon per day capacity
Point Loma Wastewater Treatment
Plant (WWTP) in San Diego
County, California.
04/20/2011
Governor's
Special Advisor for
Renewable Energy to Speak at
Summit
The Green
California Summit and
Exposition runs from April
19-20, 2011 in Sacramento,
covering "green paths to
economic recovery".
04/19/2011
London
Borough's Food Waste
Collection Pilot a
Success
The London Borough of Southwark
Council and their waste
management contractor Veolia
Environmental Services have
deemed their food waste
collection pilot program a
success, and are ready to
expand the service beyond the
initial 10,000 properties.
04/19/2011
TPA Launches
South African Biogas
Program
Trade Plus Aid
(TPA) has invested in Swiss
anaerobic digestion (AD)
company Acrona Engineering to
establish the TPA Biogas
Programme. Acrona develops
combined heat and power
applications based on their AD
designs, and is a distributor
for Capstone microturbines.
04/19/2011
Followup:
LCFS Draft Workplan
Available for
Review
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Advisory Panel will review the
LCFS Draft Workplan Version 1,
which has just been made
available on the Advisory
Panel's web page, at their
April 26, 2011 meeting.
04/19/2011
GPRE Cuts Ribbon on Ethanol
Waste to Algae
Facility
Green Plains Renewable Energy
(GPRE) hosted Agricultural
Secretary Vilsack this past
week to celebrate the grand
opening of BioProcess Algae's
Phase II “Grower Harvester”
algal photo-bioreactor.
04/18/2011
LCFS Program Schedules 2nd Full
Advisory Panel
Meeting
California's Low Carbon Fuel
Standard program has scheduled
the 2nd open meeting of the
full Advisory Panel
for
Tuesday, April 26, 2011.
04/18/2011
The Week's
Action
Items
Due 05/31/2011:
Pre-Applications for Biomass
Initiative
Funding
The US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) and
Department of Energy (DOE) has
announced a $30 million dollar
joint funding program for
advancement of biofuels,
bioenergy and bio-based
products, implementing in part
President Obama's oil import
goals.
04/18/2011
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