Teru Talk - 2012 Newsletter V-II-21

There are two things that are really necessary to attract funding and technology for waste conversion. Both are easy to say you will have in hand, simple to assume the work can be done, but particularly difficult to accomplish. The first requirement is the Feedstock, the second is the Site. If however you can actually get these two elements in place, you've set the table and can invite the Guests.

For example, you can't just say that there is "sufficient feedstock available". You have to be able to prove it. You have to know what sort of stuff the particular conversion system(s) you have in mind can and can't take. It's not just what fits in the front loading gate, but what operationally will result in acceptable results, and what according to the many layers of social pathos, agency policies, regulations and laws can actually be permitted. It is usually verboten to cut into the local recycling and composting to garner enough stuff to Feed the Beast. Contaminants in the mix don't help, and sampling requires serious pocket change. Distance matters, so co-locate with the source when you can.

Also, you can't afford to bet the farm that an "adequate site" is ready and waiting. Siting may be as simple as drawing up a real estate agreement, but we usually find that "all the good ones are already gone." You need to know the layers of land control and understand the community you expect to swallow your concept and welcome you in as a neighbor. Engage in the process of local, regional, state and often federal economic development. Don't expect everyone to agree with you; in fact, seek out those who don't. Sit down with the folks who are responsible for the fate of that Site, ask them if they are willing to negotiate.

Mind your details, make plenty of notes and follow through. If this Economy is going to recover and waste conversion is to take a prominent place, guess what: it's US that need to figure it out and get it done.

Hey Rube!

This process of Cap & Trade will now enter the gaming floor in California, and it seems the Air Resources Board expects great things. One thing is certain: this is another crow-bar, leveraging the flow of Business in a direction the government thinks best. Some will win, some will lose … probably determined by how closely you pay attention to how these new gyrations might impact your own ability to make a living. See our News on the upcoming ARB meeting on the 24th … Heads-up: here comes another curve ball!

The Week's News

Ontario, Canada based W2 Energy, Inc has announced 100% purchase of the Canadian firm Agri-Green Biodiesel, Inc. including the company's physical biodiesel plant in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada. 05/20/2012

The US Forest Service (USFS) has announced selection of Pioneer Forest Products, a subsidiary of Forest Associates, Inc, for the largest forest stewardship contract ever developed in the agency's history. 05/18/2012

Oregon, United States based company Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) has announced its selection by the United Kingdom's (UK) waste management giant SITA UK to design, manufacture and install the sorting systems for four materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in the UK. 05/17/2012

The economic development agency Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) has announced that Scotland-based beverage production company Diageo plc has joined other companies working with Invest NI's "Industrial Symbiosis Service" to reduce the amount of waste the partners send to landfill to near zero. 05/17/2012

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has posted a Meeting Notice for the Public Consultation on Investment of Cap and Trade Auction Proceeds, to be held on May 24, 2012 in Sacramento. 05/17/2012

The California Energy Commission's (CEC) Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program sponsors a wide variety of research, development, and demonstration efforts, and periodically updates its program page on the CEC website with concise 2-page new research project report "Fact Sheets". 05/16/2012

Gemma Power Systems (GPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Maryland-based Argan, Inc, has received Full Notice to Proceed from the East Texas Electric Cooperative (ETEC) on its contract to build Woodville Biomass, a 49.9 megawatt biomass fueled power plant near Woodville, Texas. 05/16/2012

Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) researchers have published on a strain (SCF1) of the sugar-fermenting microbe Enterobacter lignolyticus that can withstand high concentrations of ionic liquid solvents. 05/16/2012

Green EnviroTech Holdings Corp. (GETH) has realized a major step toward full commercialization. 05/15/2012

Canadian waste plastic to oil specialist JBI, Inc. has announced that investments of $10 million have been made in the company's equity through private placement. 05/15/2012

Finland's fuels and chemicals giant Neste Oil has announced successful conversion of fats derived from fish processing wastes into its premium-quality NExBTL renewable diesel. 05/15/2012

The Environmental Audit Committee of the United Kingdom's (UK) Parliament has released its Eleventh Report on Sustainable Food, proposing a very holistic approach to the problem of providing sufficient healthy food in a sustainable way to the country and the world's growing population. 05/14/2012

United Kingdom (UK) based multi-technologic energy development company ENER-G has announced its expansion of waste conversion services in the Romanian market. 05/14/2012

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