Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
18, April 30,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Let's get
some perspective. When it
comes to converting crud to
commodities, what is Big,
what is (small), and what
do we use as a comparison?
If you are a developer and
have spent a decade trying
to commercialize your waste
conversion whats-it, it's a
Big Thing. But if you are
Los Angeles County,
thinking about closing
Puente Hills Landfill next
year and wondering what you
are going to do with about
6,000 to 10,000 tons per
day the landfill receives
right now, well, that 100
ton per day conversion
system may not seem all
that impressive. Then
again, if you work with a
small rural community to
convert their
post-recycling residual
waste into combined heat,
electricity, fuel and other
useful goodies, 100 tons a
day will probably put a
pretty good dent in the
amount they need to ship
down the hill for disposal.
If your system can do that
hat-trick cleanly and
cost-effectively, that's
Big.
Now let's
consider putting a Big
Biorefinery in the middle
of the Valley below, a
plant that can convert, say
1,000 to 3,000 tons a day,
and think about how you
would gather enough stuff
to keep that plant running
for 20 years. If the 100
ton a day system eats a 1/4
of the waste stuff
generated in that rural
community and the money
saved is used to pay for
shipping the rest to that
biorefinery, you have a
self-supporting supply
chain. Surround that
central Biorefinery hub
with a dozen small supply
chain "spokes" leading
downhill from small
communities, each gathering
and shipping a few hundred
ton a day, and you've
cornered your feedstock
supply needs. Now you have
installations for a dozen
relatively small 100 ton
per day systems AND for
that central unit that
needs to convert over ten
times that amount. The
financing for the Big Guy
wraps around developing the
dozen Small Guys, since
that's how a reliable
supply of feedstock is
secured to flow downhill
for 20 years. A new waste
conversion infrastructure
is born.
Maybe if
our Big BioEnergy Industry
used that hub-and-spoke
model, siting little plants
near the Source that eat a
bit of the supply to pay
for the rest of the
gathering and shipping
downhill, they wouldn't be
struggling so hard to stay
alive. This is just
Farming: you feed your
family on a few of the
chickens and tomatoes you
raise, and send the rest to
market.
Hey
Rube!
Filtering the
global flow of information is a
lot like holding a fire hose,
while standing under Niagara
Falls. Yet that massive flood
hides, more than it reveals.
Teru Talk needs your Eyes and
Ears on the waste conversion
industrial marketplace. If you
know of a cool technology
and/or project turning crud to
commodities and you DON'T see
it show up here, please let us
know. Every Litter (conversion)
Bit Helps.
Other Stuff
Many of you
have been asking for an RSS
Feed for Teru Talk, and we
finally have it! Just go to our
website and click on the orange
"RSS" button to the right of
date above Teru's head. Or,
click
here.
We have also
added a page for recommended
reading from Teru's
Bookshelf. We have some
books up already, and there
are a few more on the desk
that will be posted soon.
They are linked to an online
bookstore (when they are
available for purchase) if
you are interested in
finding out more about
them.
The
Week's News
University
of Florida Team Will Lead
US-India Advanced Biofuels
Project
The University
of Florida (UF) last week
clarified its role in the
broadly collaborative Joint
Energy Research and Development
Center (JCERDC), a US-India
clean energy advancement
program announced earlier this
month. 04/28/2012
Novozymes
Joins Danish Green Energy
Consortium
Novozymes has
announced its new seat on the
board as it joins a Danish
green energy consortium
advancing the multi-technologic
Måbjerg Energy Concept,
co-founded by DONG Energy in
August of last year.
04/28/2012
Arisdyne
Cavitation Pretreatment
Installed at HERO BX
Biodiesel
Facility
The Ohio-based
biomass pre-treatment
specialist Arisdyne Systems
Inc. has announced adoption of
its patented Controlled Flow
CavitationTM (CFC)
technology by HERO BX after two
months of successful testing.
04/28/2012
DECC
Publishes 2012 UK Bioenergy
Strategy
The United
Kingdom Department of Energy
and Climate Change (DECC) has
announced publication of the UK
Bioenergy Strategy, together
with a series of supporting
documents.
04/27/2012
Neste Oil
Enters US Advanced Biofuels
Market with NExBTL
Biodiesel
Finland's
Neste Oil has announced its
first successful bulk sale and
delivery of its NExBTL
renewable biodiesel in the US
advanced biofuels market. Neste
has been closely focused on
production of its renewable
biofuels from waste oils and
residues. 04/26/2012
Covanta
Completes CLEERGAS Energy
from Waste Demonstration
Testing
New Jersey
based Covanta Energy
Corporation has announced
successful completion of
commercial demonstration
testing of its starved-air
energy from waste (EfW) system.
04/26/2012
Chemrec
Black Liquor Waste
Gasification Plants Will be
Offered in
China
The Swedish
firm Chemrec has announced an
agreement with China Tianchen
Engineering Corporation Co Ltd
(TCC) that will bring the
company's turn-key waste
gasification plants into China.
04/26/2012
Appeals
Court Lifts Injunction on
California's
LCFS
The California
Air Resources Board (ARB) has
announced that the Ninth
Circuit of the U.S Court of
Appeals has overturned a
December 2011 district court
injunction blocking the ARB's
implementation and enforcement
of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard
(LCFS). 04/25/2012
Trillium
FiberFuels Receives STTR
Award for Xylose Enzyme
RD
Oregon based
Trillium FiberFuels LLC, in
collaboration with Researchers
at Oregon State University,
have been awarded a Phase I
Small Business Technology
Transfer (STTR) 2012 grant from
the US Department of Energy,
under the Catalysis topic.
04/25/2012
Newport
Biodiesel Plans to Triple
Production of WVO Sourced
Biodiesel
The Rhode
Island (RI) Department of
Environmental Management,
Office of Waste Management
(OWM) has scheduled a public
hearing at the facilities of
Newport Biodiesel, LLC on April
25, 2012 at 7:00pm to receive
public comment regarding the
company's revised Beneficial
Use Determination application.
04/25/2012
Xebec
Secures First Chinese LFG
Upgrade Order, Distribution
Agreement
Quebec's
biogas upgrading firm Xebec
Adsorption Inc announced its
first landfill gas upgrading
system order and has entered
into an exclusive distribution
agreement in mainland China
with the Chinese client and
partner. 04/24/2012
SmallWood
2012 Will Focus on Forest
Restoration for New
Economy
The US Forest
Service, Kaibab National
Forest, has announced a
conference to gather natural
resource professionals and
industry leaders to explore new
advances in forest restoration
and wood utilization.
04/24/2012
Weltec
Starts Construction on 526
kW Biogas CHP Plant for
French Pig
Farm
Weltec
Biopower of Vechta, Germany is
constructing an anaerobic
digestion (AD) to biogas
facility for generation of 526
kilowatt (kW) on a pig farm in
the French region of
Saint-Nicolas-du-Tertre,
Brittany, about 60 miles
northwest of Nantes.
04/24/2012
Virdia Opens
Tech Center and
Biomass-to-Sugar Pilot Plant
in
Virginia
California-based
Virdia has announced opening of
its demonstration facility and
testing center in Danville,
Virginia, on the campus of the
Institute
for Advanced Learning
and Research (IALR) at Virginia
Tech. 04/24/2012
WRG Secures
Planning Approval for Energy
from Waste
Plant
United Kingdom
based Waste Recycling Group
(WRG) has announced that the
Buckinghamshire County
Council’s independent
Development Control Committee
has approved its planning
application for the Greatmoor
Energy Recovery Facility, a 22
megawatt energy from waste
facility to be fueled by
300,000 tonnes per year of the
region's post-recycling solid
waste. 04/23/2012
Aquaflow
Formalizes Agreement with
CRI and Seeks Investment
Funding
New Zealand's
Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation
has announced that it has
executed a technology
cooperative agreement with CRI
Catalyst Company, which
positions the company to
commercialize its multi-biomass
based biofuels within three
years. 04/23/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
07/18/2012: Comments on
Kaibab National Forest Draft
Forest Plan and
EIS
The US Forest
Service has published a Notice
of Availability for the draft
Kaibab National Forest Land and
Resource Management Plan and
accompanying draft
Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS No. 20120111), initiating
a 90-day public comment period.
04/23/2012
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