Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
39, September 24,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
We've
entered the Fall Conference
period and so much of the
emphasis now is on
conversion of waste to
electricity, heat, fuels,
and commodities that you'd
think the battle was won,
everyone was already
convinced, and the Money
was waiting to be picked up
for all those new projects.
Well, at least when it
comes to conversion of
biomass, things are
looking more encouraging.
It's still an up-hill
battle, and "Waste" is
still a dirty word. Maybe
that's the problem - we
need to rethink the words
we
use.
Here at
Teru Talk we've been
chewing on the term
Recycling for some time,
showing how by law,
Recycling = collect, sort,
clean, pre-treat, and
reconstitute / reprocess
into market-ready
materials. Whatever people
think Recycling means, they
sure do like the word.
At the back-end of that
recycling process, however,
communities MUST have ready
access to the equipment and
methods that "reconstitute
/ reprocess" the raw sorted
recyclates into market
ready materials. Not having
enough of the right kinds
of reprocessing facilities
means that to continue to
"recycle", that recyclable
stuff has to be shipped off
to someplace else where
those needed reprocessing
capabilities DO exist. And
it seems some people are
finally waking up to the
simple fact that shipping
it off is not only creating
a HUGE amount of greenhouse
gas by all that
long-distance transport,
but the very Jobs needed to
pull the regional economy
up by its proverbial
bootstraps are also being
shipped off. Check out
Green Team San Joaquin's
Recycling BIN
(Build Infrastructure
Now) white paper;
they certainly Get It,
and are attracting a
surprisingly diverse
membership.
OK, so
just exactly what ARE the
systems and facilities that
need to be built
in your region to
clean, pre-treat, and
reconstitute / reprocess
the recyclates collected
and sorted back into market
ready materials, the
facilities that can allow
your community to
locally complete the
Recycling process? Well, at
their core, there is an
ever-growing selection of
equipment and technologies
becoming available to turn
the trick of recyclate
conversion for integration
within those much-needed
Reprocessing Facilities.
There's kinetic
reprocessing equipment, and
chemical reprocessing
systems, and microbial
reprocessing digesters and
thermal reprocessing
retorts, and lots of
examples how combining
these to convert just about
anything that can be
separated out for
Recycling. To Recycle
Locally, each
community needs an
infrastructure that
includes local Reprocessing
Facilities, and those
plants need Reprocessing
Technologies that convert
waste into market-ready
materials.
Hey
Rube!
Even if you
can't high-tail it to
Sacramento, you can tune into
the webinar this Wednesday to
hear how the California Energy
Commission will implement the
new Electric Program Investment
Charge (EPIC) Program with its
promise of dedicated Bioenergy
Funding, and you can also file
your written comments. If you
haven't already, go to the
Governor's comment
page and let him know
that you support SB 1122,
which is focused on the same
"bucket" concept for
development support. See our
Action Item below on the
CEC's EPIC program and our
own comments
to the Gov on SB
1122.
The
Week's News
EPA Posts
Last Week's Bioresources
Alliance Symposium
Presentations
On September 11 and 12 of last
week, the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) hosted
the California Bioresources
Alliance 7th Annual Symposium
in Sacramento, California.
Region 9 has now posted the
presentations from the
packed-house symposium.
09/21/2012
LA County
Supervisor Knabe Calls for
Increased Waste Conversion
Support
Los Angeles County Fourth
District Supervisor Don Knabe
read in a motion at this week's
Board of Supervisor's meeting
for a vote next week, calling
for a four-part County drive in
support of clean, efficient
conversion of waste to energy,
fuels, and products (see
09/18/2012 transcript, pg
40-42).
09/21/2012
Algae.Tec
Contracts to Build Biofuels
Facility for German Airline
Lufthansa
The German airline Deutsche
Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa)
announced to Reuters yesterday
that it has signed a
collaborative agreement with
Australian algae to biofuel
company Algae.Tec for
construction of a large scale
facility for production of
aviation fuel.
09/20/2012
Global
Bioenergies Ties for First
as Most Innovative EU
Biotech SME
2012
French biofuels company Global
Bioenergies has tied for first
place in the EuropaBio SME 2012
competition, one of Europe's
most prestigious biotechnology
sector programs for recognition
of excellence.
09/20/2012
SEKAB
E-Technology Tests Verify
Dyadic's Newest Cellulosic
Biofuel
Enzyme
The Swedish biofuels and
biochemicals company SEKAB
E-Technology has announced
completion of verification
testing on Dyadic
International's newest blend of
cellulosic biofuel enzymes at
SEKAB's full-scale bioethanol
demonstration and testing
facility at its headquarters in
Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
09/20/2012
SNV
Netherlands Rural Biogas
Program 2012 Annual Grant
Reports
Available
The Knowledge Consultant on
Domestic Biogas for the SNV
Netherlands Development
Organisation (SNV) , Mr. Fred
Marree, has identified the many
Monitoring and Evaluation
reports now being published on
their website, following our
request for more technical
design and operational details.
09/20/2012
Dynamic
Energy Acquires RFB
Technology License for
Processing Waste
Tires
Memphis based Dynamic Energy
Alliance Corporation (DEAC) has
announced completion of
acquisition by its subsidiary,
Dynamic Energy IP. LLC, of an
exclusive world-wide license
and patenting rights for
specialized waste tire
processing capabilities from
R.F.B., LLC (RFB).
09/18/2012
Joule
Partners with Audi to
Accelerate Sunflow Biofuels
Commercialization
Massachusetts based Joule
Unlimited has announced a
strategic partnership with the
major German car company Audi
AG to accelerate development
and commercialization of
Joule's bioethanol and
biodiesel fuels through Audi's
programs of testing and
verification.
09/18/2012
Missouri
S&T Researchers Patent
Extremophile Bacteria for
Biofuels
Missouri University of Science
and Technology (S&T) has
announced that a team of
researchers led by
microbiologist Dr. Melanie
Mormile have patented processes
that could reduce the cost and
the reliance on fossil fuels,
while streamlining the process.
09/17/2012
New
"Renewable Energy on
Contaminated Lands" Web Tool
for
California
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has announced that
a new web-based mapping tool
with associated background data
is now available that pinpoints
contaminated and degraded
properties in California
suitable for renewable energy
development.
09/17/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
10/01/2012: Comments to CEC
on EPIC 3-year Investment
Plan
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) released a
Workshop Notice last week and
has now posted the draft First
Triennial Investment Plan for
the Electric Program Investment
Charge (EPIC) Program, 2012
through 2014.
09/22/2012
Due
10/02/2012: Comments to ARB
on Modified Text for
California LCFS
The California Air Resources
Board (ARB) is seeking
stakeholder comments on a Third
Notice of Public Availability
of Modified Text and
Availability of Additional
Documents and Information on
California's Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS).
09/18/2012
Due
01/17/2013: Proposals to
HWMA for Anaerobic Digestion
System
The Humboldt Waste Management
Authority (HWMA) has released a
Request for Proposals (RFP)
soliciting professional design
and installation services for
the development through
commissioning of a regional
Anaerobic Digestion (AD) System
including pre- and
post-processing of organics.
09/21/2012
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