Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
29, July 16,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Oregon has a different
approach than California
to, well, just about
everything. When it comes
to waste management and
resource recovery, the
Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality
(ODEQ) wraps it all up in
what they call "Materials
Management" and has a 2050
Vision document out for
review and comment right
now. In the ODEQ's view,
Recycling is just one part
of Materials Management,
and the same goes for where
Conversion Technologies
fit. Instead of busting the
full cycle of
goods-to-goods up in a
gazillion silos kept
separate by agency and
industry in-fighting, the
state is working to get the
whole picture firmly
printed in Oregonian's
brains.
Oregon's full Life Cycle of
Materials and Products
starts with (1) Extraction
of Virgin Stuff which then
gets (2) Manufactured into
consumer goods. Next comes
(3) Consumption and Use
followed by (4) End-of-Life
Management, where that
worn-out stuff gets
discarded by the users and
either (5) goes to disposal
or (6) gets Recycled. Now,
like California, those
Recycled Goods need to be
"cleaned, treated and
reconstituted" into
something that can re-enter
as (7) Recovered Materials,
alternatives to take the
place of (1)
Extraction.
All through this larger
Life Cycle of Materials and
Products are opportunities
to be more efficient, less
wasteful, more creative,
less broke … chances to
build up the regional
economy by "in-sourcing"
and internalizing, building
up the state's own capacity
to Recover and Remake
Stuff. By keeping the
bigger picture in mind and
seeking out every instance
where Oregon has been
losing Materials from its
own grasp, more Stuff stays
in the local economy, more
jobs remain near home, less
Stuff has to be purchased
from afar to make the
Goods, and less money flows
away from the state's
economy.
Recently, California has
been trying to figure out
the various pieces of this
puzzle, yet continues to
look at the many parts
instead of the whole
picture. Yes, sets of laws
have to address specific
parts. Yes, myriad agencies
will continue to fight over
control of those parts. And
yes, the industrial and
municipal Turf Wars will
continue to erect barriers.
As long as the state keeps
this up, the Materials and
the Money will continue to
be shipped out of the state
just as fast as it possibly
can.
It doesn't have to
continue; California can
become a self-supporting
machine any time the
political will and the
public consciousness say
it's time. Pull the Jobs
back into the state, make
sure the Materials remain
here long enough to be
"cleaned, treated and
reconfigured" for re-entry
into California's own
marketplace. The people
have the smarts, the state
certainly have the
humongous Materials flow
and the market. It appears
California also has a
Neighbor to the North who
has managed to get right
out in front when it comes
to the Life Cycle of
Materials
Management.
Hey
Rube!
The ODEQ has
scheduled a two hour webinar on
its 2050 Vision of the whole
process of Materials Management
for July 19, 2012 that we
mentioned in our action
item a couple of weeks
ago. Let's surprise 'em, and
have a few hundred
Californians crash their
on-line party. Compared to
what CalRecycle's been
promoting with its AB 341 - 75%
Recycling routine, it
looks like California's
Northern Neighbor can fetch
up something
serious.
The
Week's News
CalRecycle
Schedules Workshop on SWF
Permit 5-Year Review
Process
The California
Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) has announced that
staff will conduct a half-day
workshop on the five year
review process for solid waste
facility (SWF) permits on July
24, 2012. 07/15/2012
CARB Posts
LCFS Guidance for Mixed
Feedstock
Biodiesel
The California
Air Resources Board (CARB) has
posted a new Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS) guidance
document as an Internal Fuels
Pathway for producers of mixed
feedstock biodiesel.
07/15/2012
ETW Dry PSA
Biogas Treatment Trials
Successful in Upgrade
Integration
The German
biogas treatment specialists
ETW Energietechnik GmbH have
announced a successful
six-month testing period for
the upgrade installation at the
existing Laupheim, Germany
biogas plant, first
commissioned in 2008.
07/15/2012
OriginOil
Ships First Algae Harvester
to Ennesys for French Urban
Algae
Trials
Los Angeles
based OriginOil has announced
shipment of its first modular
algal harvesting system, its
basic Model 4, to its
development partner Ennesys for
urban algae production trials
in France.
07/14/2012
Gevo and
Beta Renewables Sign
Cellulosic Isobutanol
Development
Agreement
Colorado based
Gevo Inc. has announced an
agreement with Beta Renewables
to integrate the company's two
technology platforms for
production of cellulosic
isobutanol.
07/14/2012
Swedish
Anaerobic Digestion Plant
Ships First Tankers of
Liquefied
BioGas
Göteborg
Energi has announced shipment
of its first tankers of
liquefied biogas to Gothenburg
to be distributed in one of
Fordonsgas Sweden AB's filling
stations for fueling heavy
vehicles. 07/14/2012
BDI
BioEnergy to Build Largest
Waste to Biodiesel Plant in
France
The Austrian
firm BDI BioEnergy
International AG has received a
EUR 16.4 million contract for
construction of a
multi-feedstock biodiesel
facility in the port of Le
Havre, France.
07/13/2012
Welsh
Government Releases Waste
and Resource Management
Plan
The Welsh
Government has announced
development and publication of
a country-wide plan for
Collections, Infrastructure and
Markets Sector (CIMS) to
improve the recycled materials
supply chain provision of
recyclates to reprocessors and
high-quality waste-sourced raw
materials to manufactures that
use recycled materials.
07/13/2012
French
Company Global Bioenergies
Opens First US Branch in
Ames,
Iowa
French
biochemicals and biofuels
company Global Bioenergies has
announced the opening of a
branch office in Ames Iowa,
expanding its commercialization
from Europe to North America.
07/12/2012
SCS Adds
Landfills, Livestock, Ozone
Depleting to GHG Offset
Verifications
California
based Scientific Certification
Systems (SCS) has announced an
expansion of its carbon offset
verification program to include
landfills, livestock, and
ozone-depleting substances.
07/12/2012
Xergi Begins
Quality Assurance Testing on
New French Biogas CHP
Plant
The Danish
anaerobic digestion specialist
Xergi has begun quality
assurance testing as part of
commissioning of its two-stage
biogas plant installed for
French fertilizer company
META-BIO Energies in Bel-Air de
Combrée in western France.
07/12/2012
Aemetis
Acquires Cilion, Inc and Its
California Ethanol
Plant
California
based Aemetis Inc, has
announced acquisition of
Cilion, Inc. and its ethanol
plant in Keyes, California,
culminating a long and
successful working
relationship.
07/11/2012
USCHPA
Offers Free Webinar on New
Ohio Alternative Fuels and
CHP Law
Ohio Governor
John Kasich signed Senate Bill
315 into law on June 11, 2012,
establishing new support
programs and development
opportunities for waste energy
recovery (WER), cogeneration
(combined heat and power, or
CHP), and advanced biofuels.
07/11/2012
AliphaJet
Ready to Commercialize,
Joins Advanced Biofuels
Association
San Francisco
based AliphaJet, Inc, a joint
venture between SynGest Inc and
Unitel Technologies, Inc, is
ready to commercialize, and has
joined the Advanced Biofuels
Association (ABFA).
07/09/2012
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