Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
33, August 13,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
The US
Department of Defense (DOD)
continues to step up the
home-grown energy and fuels
game. There's even common sense
being exhibited: Why pay to
protect oil Over There, when we
can develop it over here? Why
hog-tie US security to those
who'd just as soon hold us
hostage? The only way
home-grown fuels are more
expensive is if we don't count
the real cost of OPEC
blood-for-oil. After muscling
past congressional whimpering
about biofuels purchase and
testing, we saw two big new
federal plays this past week.
It's hard to tell which will
have the bigger impact in the
long
run.
Federal lands
are a crazy quilt of ownership.
Now, Defense and the Interior
have agreed to set aside
bickering over who controls
lands near military bases and
coordinate large-scale
renewable energy generation and
fuels production for Base use
and security. It is almost as
hard to image the Bureau of
Land Management giving up an
inch of land control, as it is
to think of Camp Whats-it
turning bombing ranges into
biocrops, but the DOD's $4
Billion per year energy bill
cries for something different.
In a parallel development the
Army Corps of Engineers has
ear-marked $7 Billion for
purchase over 30 years of
renewable and alternative
energy generated and financed
by private
parties.
Now, granted
these don't specifically
mention "waste", but NOMB
(that's "Not on my Base")
wasn't part of the title,
either. Many bases are already
putting in biodiesel rigs to
convert the commissary grease
to D-10 fuel, and Teru Talk has
even reported on gasification
kit trials for turning on-base
garbage to combined heat and
power. The military has always
been good for kick-starting new
technology. It's an easy bet
the remote bases out in the
open are perfect for massive
solar in places where the sun
shines, and maybe growing acres
of hemp (for the biofuels,
silly). Guess it's time to up
the ante, and talk about REALLY
large scale on-base
waste-sourced energy, fuels and
chemicals. Let's lay out the
maps, see which ones can draw
on major quantities of urban
wastes. See which bases are
nestled in forested lands that
need thinning. Heck, see which
bases have both a sizable
amount of regional garbage AND
surrounding forested lands.
This sounds like good old
American map-based land use
planning. Out of the process,
we'll be able to say, "See! It
DOES
work!"
Hey
Rube!
Just north of
California's capital is Placer
County, which sits half in the
valley and half in the woods.
For literally YEARS, Placer has
been working on possible ways
to turn way too much woody
biomass into clean energy,
stumbling over opposition and
regulations while horrendous
forest fires continue to take
their toll. In a very modest
but very important effort, the
county now has settled on a 2
megawatt bioenergy development
just outside of the Tahoe
Basin, a plant big enough to
convert the locally generated
forest waste. Placer's released
a Draft Environmental Impact
Report (DEIR), and is looking
for comments on its adequacy.
Let's use this chance to
support not only Placer's
persistence, but the
possibility we could use all
these rules and regs to do
something right for a change.
Read the DEIR; think about the
constant forest fires and their
costs, and submit your commits
in support of the Cabin Creek
Biomass Facility. See the
Action Item
below.
The
Week's News
Republic
Starts Up 110 Ton/Hour MRF
at Recycling Complex in San
Jose
Municipal
waste management company
Republic Services has announced
the dedication and start-up of
its massive 110 ton per hour
capacity materials recovery
facility (MRF) in San Jose,
California.
08/11/2012
Trimble's
cBin Uses GPS to Remotely
Track and Monitor Recycling
Bins
Tirmble
Environmental Solutions has
announced the launch of its GPS
enabled cBinTM waste
collection and materials
management modules.
08/11/2012
Indian River
BioEnergy Center Receives
EPA Registration for
Cellulosic
Ethanol
INEOS Bio has
announced that its joint
venture project INEOS New
Planet BioEnergy (INPB) has
been granted fuels registration
under EPA's Part 79 and 80 for
production and sale of advanced
bioethanol from non-food
vegetable waste feedstock.
08/11/2012
Eco Ventures
Group Secures Local Permits
for Florida Biofuels
Plant
Florida based
company Eco Ventures Group Inc
(EVG) has announced that both
Lake County and the City of
Groveland, Florida have now
formally approved permits for
the company's biofuel systems
fabrication and manufacturing,
and for the production and sale
of biofuel on all of its
Groveland headquarters
property. 08/09/2012
Technical
Options Presented for
Biochar
Analysis
Micrometrics
Analytical Services (MAS) has
announced availability of a
technical biochar analysis
paper presented during the 2012
US Biochar Conference held at
Sonoma State University at the
end of July.
08/09/2012
Eco Starts
Commissioning Tests for West
Dorset Food Waste AD
Plant
A
leading organics recycling firm
in the United Kingdom, Eco
Sustainable Solutions (Eco) has
announced final testing of its
£3.3 million anaerobic digester
(AD) at Piddlehinton, which is
due to be officially launched
in September.
08/08/2012
GRES Forming
JV for Puerto Rico Landfill
Remediation, Recycling,
Conversion
Green Energy
Renewable Solutions (GRES) of
Las Vegas, Nevada has announced
signing a Letter of Intent to
form a 50/50% joint venture
(JV) with Puerto Rico based
Landfill Solutions, Inc to
manage and remediate the
50-acre Yabucoa municipal
landfill. 08/08/2012
EPA Awards
Tetra Tech Two $32MM Methane
Emission Reduction
Contracts
California
based engineering consultancy
Tetra Tech has received two
contract awards totaling around
$32 million from the US
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to provide technical and
outreach support for reduction
of methane emissions.
08/08/2012
DOD and DOI
Partner for Renewable Energy
to Serve US Military
Bases
The US
Departments of Defense (DOD)
and of the Interior (DOI) have
announced a partnership to
facilitate development of
renewable energy projects and
resources in federal
jurisdictions on and adjacent
to US military bases.
08/08/2012
Viridor Is
Top Bidder to Build/Operate
Peterborough Energy from
Waste
Facility
The
Peterborough City Council has
announced that the United
Kingdom's waste management
company Viridor Ltd has been
selected as the recommended
preferred bidder to build and
operate a new energy from waste
(EfW)
facility under a 30 year
contract. 08/07/2012
Fulcrum
Receives $105MM USDA Loan
Guarantee for Sierra
Biofuels
Project
California
based Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc.
has announced that the US
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has committed to a $105
million conditional loan
guarantee, key to securing
project financing to fund
construction of Fulcrum's
Sierra BioFuels Plant.
08/07/2012
ZeroPoint's
2nd Biomass Gasification
Plant is Connected to
Grid
New York based
ZeroPoint Clean Tech, Inc., has
announced that its second
biomass gasification facility
is now grid-connected and
selling power to the regional
utility in Newry, Northern
Ireland. 08/07/2012
BiogenGreenfinch,
Now Biogen, Secures £24.4m
Investment from
Kier
United
Kingdom's anaerobic digestion
(AD) company BiogenGreenfinch
has announced that the
construction and property
rights firm Kier has invested
£24.4 million, adding to the
investment already made by
BiogenGreenfinch's parent
company Bedfordia Group.
08/06/2012
HM3 Energy
Receives $86K from Oregon
BEST for Coal
Replacement
The Oregon
Built Environment &
Sustainable Technologies Center
(Oregon BEST) has announced an
award of $86,000 to Gresham,
Oregon based HM3 Energy for
testing and systems
optimization in making
torrefied wood as a clean,
energy-dense, low-emissions
substitute for coal.
08/06/2012
Industry
Associations Form Biofuel
Producers Coordinating
Council
Eight biofuel
industry organizations have
announced the formation of the
Biofuels Producers Coordinating
Council to jointly advocate for
national policy for increased
energy security through
domestic biofuel production.
08/06/2012
SWACO Signs
Landfill Gas to Pipeline
Deal with
Renewco
The Solid
Waste Authority of Central Ohio
(SWACO) announced that it has
signed a contract with Georgia
based Renewco to clean,
compress and inject landfill
gas (LFG) into the regional
natural gas pipeline
infrastructure.
08/06/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
09/10/2012: Comments on
Placer County Bioenergy
Project Draft
EIR
Placer County
has released a Notice of
Availability initiating a
public comment period for the
Draft Environmental Impact
Report (DEIR) addressing
potential impacts of
development and operation of a
bioenergy facility.
08/11/2012
Due
10/05/2012: Proposals to
USACE for
Renewable/Alternative Energy
IDIQ
The US Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) through its Engineering
and Support Center in
Huntsville, Alabama has issued
"Renewable and Alternative
Energy Power Production for
Department of Defense
Installation, Solicitation#
W912DY-11-R-0036".
08/10/2012
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