Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
13, March 26,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Well, the
USDA admin signed off on the
completely re-done Forest
Planning Rule last week, and
soon this will start the
process of re-writing each
national forest plan. The
Collaborative approach,
involving everyone who would
put up a hand in the general
region of a particular National
Forest, has effectively broken
the "log jam" hobbling proper
forest restoration and resource
utilization since the early
1980's. It’s not such a
difficult concept: herd
everyone in a room, hand 'em a
pad, a pen, and a club, and
kick the door shut … the
outcome? Adaptive Management
Plans responsive to the
communities of humans that have
to live with them, affecting
literally millions of acres at
a time, Plans that allow
cost-effective and
environmentally sensitive
stewardship at "Landscape
Scale".
As with all
aspects of Waste Conversion,
the utilization of the biomass
to be removed during these
Forest Landscape Restoration
efforts is a secondary concern.
Just like the supply chains
involving food-first, ag
residuals second, it’s what
happens to the left-overs that
concerns you and me.
Integrating common sense into
land management planning and
getting community stewardship
buy-in, seems to have prevailed
in the US in a big way with
this new Rule. Now: what about
taking that same approach to
each and every resource
utilization quandary we've been
stuck on for
decades?
If a broad
collaboration of communities,
private landowners, state
agencies, non-profits and the
Feds themselves can come
together (albeit painfully) and
hammer out what to do and how
to do it for forests and
woodlands, chances are the
people engaged in those
stewardship collaboratives will
be able to use the methods
they've learned to re-draw
other regional planning
mechanisms. If the
Collaborative over time, sees
that indeed Sustainable Biomass
can be pulled out of those
overgrown woods in the course
of organized land management
and put to good use without
environmental rape and pillage,
chances are good they'll
appreciate other applications
of good resource recovery
planning. If that community is
already engaged in turning
locally sourced sustainably
extracted biomass into
electricity, heat, fuels, and
other commodities … turning
other wastes and residuals to
good use may just seem like the
natural thing to do.
Hey
Rube!
Speaking of
examples of Common Sense waste
conversion, the Denver Zoo has
put together a demo unit to
show off their poop and trash
gasification system. They have
mounted the little module on a
golf-cart size Tuk Tuk (read:
rickshaw); the syngas fuels the
engine and powers the buggy.
Staff is currently touring
accredited zoos and aquariums,
getting people acquainted with
the idea of running vehicles on
poop-sourced-fuel. When they
get done they plan to build the
scaled-up version at the Denver
Zoo to convert animal wastes
(guests and residents) for
combined heating, cooling, fuel
and waste management. Be sure
to watch for the grand "Tour de
Tuk Tuk", coming soon to zoos
and aquariums in your
neighborhood!
The
Week's Extra Reading
Comments were
due last Friday to the
California Energy Commission on
their possible suspension of
RPS eligibility of biomethane.
The public hearing is
scheduled for Wednesday, March
28, 2012. Teru has
submitted his comments
and will be at the
hearing.
The
Week's News
USDA
Announces Publication of New
Forest Planning
Rule
Undersecretary
of the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has signed
the new Forest Planning Rule
with only minor modifications
for language clarity in the
Preferred Alternative defining
that Rule.
03/23/2012
PTG Adds
Mobile Wastewater to Energy
Unit for Demo and Field
Tests
California
based Pasteurization Technology
Group (PTG) has announced
addition of the PTG XM-5 mobile
unit to its capabilities,
allowing on-site testing and
systems demonstration.
03/23/2012
Agrivert
Selected for Central Wales
Food Waste AD to Energy
Contract
The United
Kingdom's organic waste
conversion specialist Agrivert
has announced its selection as
preferred bidder for anaerobic
digestion (AD) of food waste to
biogas by the Central Wales
Waste Partnership (CWWP).
03/23/2012
Air Products
Buys Xebec Biogas Upgrading
IP and
Labs
Based in
Quebec, Canada, Xebec
Adsorption Inc has now unveiled
that negotiations to sell its
intellectual property (IP) for
upgrading of biogas have been
completed with the transfer of
its patents to Air Products'
Global General Gases division.
03/23/2012
Winners
Announced for 2012
Sustainable Biofuels
Awards
GreenPower
Conferences has announced the
2012 Sustainable Biofuels Award
winners, presented last week at
the World Biofuels Market
conference in Rotterdam,
Netherlands.
03/21/2012
Cyclone
Power Closes First Round of
Secured Promissory Note
Funding
The
Florida-based engine developer
Cyclone Power Technologies has
announced closure of its first
round of Secured Promissory
Note funding to support its
technology development and
operational expenses.
03/21/2012
LanzaTech,
Emefcy Win Bloomberg New
Energy Awards for Waste to
Energy
This year's
New Energy Pioneers awards have
been announced at the fifth
annual Bloomberg New Energy
Finance Summit under way from
March 19-21, 2012 in New York.
03/21/2012
Burns &
McDonnell Receives ACEC
Chapter's Highest Award -
Twice
Missouri based
engineering, architecture,
construction, environmental,
and consulting firm Burns &
McDonnell has announced receipt
of two Grand Conceptor awards,
the highest honor from the
American Council of Engineering
Companies (ACEC) Missouri
Chapter. 03/20/2012
Denver Zoo's
Poop and Trash Gasification
Rickshaw Goes on Tour de Tuk
Tuk
The
Association of Zoos and
Aquariums (AZA) first Green
Award winner, the Denver Zoo,
has announced that it will
showcase its groundbreaking
working gasification prototype
on a road tour.
03/20/2012
USDA
"Match-Up Day" to Link Ag
Feedstock Producers,
Biorefinery
Developers
The US
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has announced that it is
hosting a "match making day" on
March 30, 2012 in Washington DC
to bring major agricultural
feedstock producers together
with biorefinery developers.
03/20/2012
German
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Heating Gets Big
Boost
The Germany
Trade & Invest (GTAI)
announced that Germany has
already reached its 20 percent
renewable electricity goal, and
is now targeting renewable
heating with the commitment to
achieve 14% by 2020.
03/19/2012
Tembec Announces $310 MM
Two-Phase Pulp Mill
Waste-to-Energy
Expansion
Quebec's pulp
and paper mill Tembec has
announced initiation of the
Phase 1
expansion
of its Temiscaming
specialty cellulose
plant.
03/19/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
04/20/2012: Applications
from NY Farmers for NRCS AD
Funding
The US
Department of Agriculture
(USDA), Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) has
announced availability of up to
$1 million in support funding
to New York farmers for
development of anaerobic
digestion (AD) systems as part
of on-farm manure management.
03/21/2012
Due
04/24/2012: Pre-Applications
for Biomass R&D
Initiative
Funding
The US
Department of Energy (DOE) has
announced that the Obama
administration has unveiled a
fund of up to $35 million to
available over three years
through the Biomass Research
and Develop Initiative (BRDI),
a joint DOE/US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) program.
03/23/2012
Due
05/07/2012: Proposals to
Minnesota Commerce Dept for
Energy CARD
Grants
The
Division of Energy
Resources, Minnesota
Department of Commerce, has
released a Request for
Proposals (RFP) today,
"seeking proposals from
organizations or individuals
interested in applied
research and development
projects that serve to
accelerate the development
and adoption of new energy
efficient technologies and
strategies in Minnesota."
03/19/2012
Due
05/15/2012: Qualifications
to County of Maui for Waste
Conversion
Project
The Department of Environmental
Management (DEM), County of
Maui, Hawaii, has issued a
Request for Qualifications
(RFQ) for a Waste Conversion
Project at the Central Maui
Landfill (CML) in Pu'unene.
03/25/2012
|
