Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
36, September 4,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
The
California Legislature
finished their deeds early
Saturday morning, according
to our favorite (free)
bill
tracker Around the
Capital, sending 788
bills to the Governor's
Office who now has until
November 30th to
approve, veto, or
ignore. Scattered
amongst those bills were
a few that would
significantly impact the
recovery of resources
from waste. We discussed
two that passed the
legislature with Neil
Black of California
Bioenergy last week; two
others are "enrolled"
for yet another round of
legislative assessment.
NOT on the Gov's desk is
at least one bill that
should have been by our
reckoning.
C'mon, we
know this legislative stuff
gives Everybody a headache,
but we still have some time
to put in a
dig or a boost to
the Governor. That's got
to be at least as
effective as trying to
work with the
Legislature directly. On
the Passed side: Senate
Bill 1122 would require
the Utilities to add up
to 250 megawatts of
bioenergy in a way that
would let biogas
projects compete with
biogas, and biomass with
biomass, leveling the
"cost" field. Also
Passed: Assembly
Bill 2196 by Wes
Chesbro, author of last
session's Mandatory
Commercial Recycling
Bill AB 341. AB 2196
attempts to untangle the
recent biomethane-to-pipeline
ruckus by setting
new eligibility
standards. When the
California Energy
Commission universally
pulled the plug on
projects intended to
inject biomethane into
the pipeline natural gas
distribution grid, a
whole bunch of folks
with on-going project
were left in the lurch.
A quick resolution is
needed; this bill seems
to offer something
workable.
Still
under study, but at least
inside the Office: AB 523
hopes to cut King Corn out
of California's
biorefinery/biofuels grant
loan program for ethanol
starting next July, leaving
AB 118 projects to
choose non-corn sourced
biofuels for backing. And
on a more Me Too! Level,
33rd District Assembly's
Katcho Achadjian sponsored
AB 2161 so San Louis Obispo
County could be eligible
for a chunk of that $7
million in grants to cut a
cleaner local regulatory
path for renewable energy.
Governor, thumbs up for
both bills: the first
allows more funds for
conversion of waste instead
of food crops, and on the
second, it's nice to see a
Rep fighting for his
constituents and clean
energy.
Now, to
that Missing Bill: some
sort of legislative fix was
needed allow the Salinas
Valley Waste Management
Authority to move forward
with its plasma-based waste
conversion demonstration
after CalRecycle's director
and her "aid" put the
brakes on the Gonzales
project. In June,
the Gov's Office tried
to help, and promised,
"We can make this work."
Apparently,
Watsonville's
Assemblyman Alejo didn't
get the Gov's memo, and
wouldn't
support a bill.
Plasco's now packed up
to leave, waving a very
clear hand-signal to
CalRecycle and our
Golden State.
Harrumph.
Hey
Rube!
With months
of campaign ads and now the
Party Conventions, the state
rulemaking process can get
caught in the lurch. It's hard
to be bothered to make a
Choice, when there's so much
hoopla from all sides. But
whatever your favorite
political flavor, remember that
if you DON'T get out there,
you've also made a choice.
Choose to be heard: speak up on
what matters to you to the
Gov's Office while there's a
bit of time left, and do your
best to understand enough of
the national banter to be ready
for a bigger Choice in
November. This is OUR country,
darn
it.
The
Week's News
Millar
Western to Construct $42MM
Pulp Mill Effluent to Biogas
Facility
Alberta, Canada's timber and
pulp company Millar Western
Forest Products Ltd. has
announced its decision to
construct an anaerobic
digestion (AD) plant to convert
the effluent from its
Whitecourt pulp mill to
bioenergy.
09/03/2012
Global
Bioenergies Is in Top 5 Most
Innovative European Biotech
SMEs
The French headquarters of
Global Bioenergies has
announced its selection last
month as one of the top five
most innovative European
small-to-medium enterprise
(SME) biotechnology companies
for 2012 by the EuropaBio
organization.
09/03/2012
Origin Oil
Algae Harvester Set for
Japanese Remediation and
Biofuel
Trials
Los Angeles based Origin Oil
has announced that its
long-standing Japanese partner,
the Research Institute of
Tsukuba Bio-tech (RITB), has
received significant funding
from the Japanese government
for algae-to-biofuels trials.
09/01/2012
MaxWest
Completes 2nd Generation
Biosolids Gasification
System
Florida based thermal
conversion systems developer
MaxWest Environmental Systems
has announced completion of its
second generation MaxWest
Biosolids Gasification System,
designed to convert wastewater
treatment solids, or
"biosolids", into energy.
09/01/2012
South Korean
Researchers Convert Sewage
Sludge to
Biodiesel
A South Korean bioenergy
research team has published
"Biodiesel Production from
Sewage Sludge: New Paradigm for
Mining Energy from Municipal
Hazardous Material" in the
August 20, 2012 edition of
Environmental Science &
Technology, a publication of
the American Chemical Society.
09/01/2012
Comment
Period Closed on Air Permit
for Puerto Rico Waste to
Energy
Plant
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 2 Office
closed the public comment
period today on an air permit
for a waste to energy facility
proposed in Arecibo, Puerto
Rico.
08/31/2012
Xergi to
Install Biogas Plant for
Holton Turkey Waste to CHP
Project in
UK
Danish company Xergi A/S has
announced that it will supply
anaerobic digestion (AD)
technology for the Holton
Renewable Power Ltd. renewable
combined heat and power (CHP)
turkey waste to energy
facility.
08/31/2012
Nexterra and
Stopford Form Strategic
Alliance for UK Waste to
Energy
Projects
Canadian biomass gasification
company Nexterra has announced
a strategic alliance agreement
with Stopford Projects Ltd. of
the United Kingdom (UK) to
develop and market Nexterra’s
energy-from-renewable-waste
gasification systems for the
industrial and district energy
markets in the UK.
08/31/2012
Neste Oil
Completes Phase I Waste to
Microbial Oil Plant in
Finland
Neste Oil has announced
completion of the first phase
of its microbial oil production
pilot plant in Porvoo, Finland.
08/29/2012
LanzaTech
Chosen as 2013 Technology
Pioneer by World Economic
Forum
New Zealand's
emissions-to-bioproducts
company LanzaTech has announced
that the World Economic Forum
has named the company as one of
23 Technology Partners for 2013
based on their innovation,
potential impact, growth and
sustainability, proof of
concept, and leadership.
08/29/2012
Novozymes,
Terranol Partner to Speed
Cellulosic Ethanol
Commercialization
Danish companies Novozymes and
Terranol have announced a
partnering agreement intended
to increase the rate of
commercialization for
cellulosic ethanol production
from wastes and residues,
energy crops, and other types
of biomass.
08/29/2012
7th Annual
California Bioresources
Alliance Symposium Agenda
Finalized
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), Pacific Southwest
Region 9, has released the full
details and published a final
agenda for next month's
California Bioresources
Alliance 7th Annual Symposium.
08/28/2012
BioNitrogen
Signs Development MOU with
Hardee County,
Florida
Florida's biomass to fertilizer
company BioNitrogen has
announced signing an agreement
with the Development
Authorities of Hardee County
for its proposed Florida
conversion facility.
08/28/2012
Sapphire
Energy's Demo Green Crude
Farm in New Mexico now
Operational
San Diego's algae biorefinery
company Sapphire Energy has
announced that all elements of
Green Crude Farm construction
have now been completed on time
and on budget.
08/27/2012
First SEFA
Grant Awarded to African
Green Tech Financial
Facility
Concept
The African Development Bank
Group (AfDB) has announced that
the Sustainable Energy Fund for
Africa (SEFA) has awarded a
grant of $825,000 (US) to
develop the Green Tech
Financial Facility.
08/27/2012
Weltec
Enters Polish Energy Market
with 2.4MWe Ag Waste to
Biogas
Project
Germany based Weltec Biopower
has announced that it will
start construction next month
on a 2.4 megawatt (MW)
anaerobic digestion (AD)
facility in Darżyno, Pomerania,
Poland about 80 kilometers west
of Danzig.
08/27/2012
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