Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
22, May 29,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
In a stunning example of
poor form last week,
CalRecycle's new director
caved to the demands of the
vocal minority,
countermanded
determinations of her own
Chief Counsel and rescinded
her department's
recognition of the Plasco
Salinas Valley Project as
an alternative waste
management pathway in
compliance with current
regulation and
law.
Year after year, we witness
a continual attack upon
science and business in
California. Just when we
think some progress has
been made, underhanded
tactics prevail and Sanity
takes a back seat. Year
after year we hear the
lament from our leaders
confirming what we all
know, that our economy is
in the toilet and getting
worse. Yet when the
opportunity arises to
convert our ugly legacy of
Waste into an engine of
positive change, those in
charge in the legislature
and state agencies use
their position to level
another resounding slap
against our municipalities
and the industries they
support. Even the hint that
a new approach might work
appears to be enough to
bring out the
screamers.
This time, Director
Mortenson parrots the
complaints of the zealots
and unplugs seven years of
Monterey County's community
diligence, all based on
what certainly appears to
be the opposition's
intentional
misinterpretation of
existing law and her Chief
Counsel's
wording.
For a while, I thought the
Zealot's Reasoning
(oxymoron) could be as
simple as slamming
California's door to keep
anyone else from getting
inside. You know, "Not in
My Backyard." That sure has
worked well, hasn't it? But
an older addage reflects,
"Follow the Money": just
who is making a killing off
the status quo? Even the
leading corporate landfill
owners have had a change of
heart and have been
investing heavily in waste
conversion technology,
including gasification and
plasma. Perhaps we should
watch who picks up the
paycheck when our "waste"
resources are gathered up,
put in shipping containers,
and sent in such huge
volumes overseas. Export of
our precious resources does
not constitute Recycling in
my book, but I'll bet that
it DOES equate to a whole
lot of Money. Just sayin'
…
Hey
Rube!
Take a good
look at our Focus Report
chewing on this subject in far
more detail. The link is below
under "This Week's Extra
Reading." It's going out well
beyond our loyal readership
this week, so you should be
able to hear the backlash from
afar. Do your homework, ask the
tough questions, and come to
your own conclusion. Then SAY
SOMETHING, preferably in
writing, to every "responsible
party" in your address
book.
The
Week's Extra Reading
New TERU Focus
Report: CalRecycle
Jeopardizes Plasco
Project by
rescinding its own
two-year-old determination
for the Salinas Valley Waste
to Energy
Project.
The
Week's News
Gevo Starts
Commercial Production of
Biobased Isobutanol on
Schedule
Colorado based
Gevo Inc., has announced start
of commercial scale production
of the biofuel isobutanol at
its Luverne, Minnesota
facility. 05/25/2012
CalRecycle
Releases Final Agenda:
Digesting Urban Organics
Residuals
Forum
California's
Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) has released the
final agenda for its Digesting
Urban Organics Residuals (DUOR)
forum to be held May 30, 2012
at the CalEPA Building in
downtown Sacramento.
05/25/2012
Whitesand
First Nation Considers Shift
from Diesel Power to
Bioenergy
CHP
The Ontario,
Canada Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines has
announced its assistance to the
Whitesand First Nation
300-person community in
assessing feasibility of
converting from diesel power
generation to biomass-fueled
combined heat and power.
05/25/2012
Feedstox
Buys Advanced Biomass
Harvesting Equipment for
Lease to
Farmers
Kansas based
Feedstox has announced key
additions to its fleet of
advanced agricultural residual
harvesting equipment to reduce
the cost of cellulosic biofuels
production.
05/24/2012
AFS BioOil
Invites Tours of Algae Demo
Plant at Fairfield Suisun
WWTP
AFS BioOil Co,
subsidiary and licensee of
Algal Floating Systems, Inc,
has announced that it has
opened its demonstration
facility on the grounds of the
Fairfield Suisun Sewer
District's wastewater treatment
plant (WWTP) in Fairfield,
California.
05/24/2012
Eunomia
Releases Bi-Annual Residuals
Conversion Update for
UK
United Kingdom
(UK) based Eunomia Research and
Consulting has updated its
assessment of the UK's
"Residual Waste Infrastructure
Review", releasing a useful
free 29-page "high level"
summary extracting detail from
its full report that is
available for purchase on its
website. 05/24/2012
Beta
Renewables Licenses PROESA
to GraalBio for Brazilian
Ethanol
Plant
M&G
Group/TPG joint venture Beta
Renewables has announced
licensing of its proprietary
Chemtex PROESA™ biomass
pre-treatment technology to the
South American firm GraalBio,
part of the Graal Investment
Corporation Group.
05/24/2012
Midwest
Aviation Sustainable
Biofuels Initiative Launched
in 12 State
Region
Boeing, United
Airlines, Honeywell's
subsidiary UPO, the Chicago
Department of Aviation and the
Clean Energy Trust released a
joint announcement this week on
the formation of the Midwest
Aviation Sustainable Biofuels
Initiative (MASBI).
05/24/2012
GreenWorld
Acquires Natures Earth and
North Carolina Pellet
Plant
Waste to
energy company GreenWorld
Development, Inc announced
executing a binding framework
agreement to acquire Natures
Earth LLC and its 120,000
million ton per year wood
pellet manufacturing facility
in North Carolina.
05/23/2012
Delft
University Partners with CSM
and Royal DSM for Bioprocess
Pilot
Facility
The Delft
University of Technology,
Netherlands,
has
announced a joint venture
with the global specialty
chemicals and fuels
company Royal DSM and the
food processing giant CSM
to form the company
Bioprocess Pilot Facility
BV (BPF).
05/23/2012
HELCO Signs
PPA with Hū Honua Bioenergy
for Biomass
Power
Hawaii
Electric Light Company (HELCO)
and Hū Honua Bioenergy today
announced signing a Power
Purchase Agreement to provide
Hawaiʻi Island with 21.5
megawatts (MW) of renewable
electricity, about 10% of the
island's electricity demand.
05/23/2012
Heliae
Breaks Ground on Commercial
Scale Algae Production Demo
Facility
Arizona based
Heliae Development, LLC has
announced ground-breaking for
its commercial-scale algae
production demonstration
facility. 05/21/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Update:
Addendum No.1 Issued to
Biosolids to Energy Project
RFQ
The Bay Area Biosolids to
Energy (BAB2E) Coalition
released Addendum No. 1 last
week to its April 5, 2012
solicitation, issuing a Revised
Request for Qualifications
(RFQ).
05/22/2012
Due
08/26/2012: Papers for
Biogas Engineering and
Application - Volume
3
The
Sino-German Project for
Optimization of Biomass
Utilization - Biogas has
announced a Call for Papers for
Volume 3 of "Biogas Engineering
and Application". Publication
is scheduled for December 2012.
05/23/2012
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