Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
41, October 8,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
No
disrespect intended to
England, but there are
certain similarities
between London and Los
Angeles County, and much
that they can learn from
each other about waste
management and resource
recovery. LA has around 10
million residents, while
London sports about 8
million. When it comes to
Waste however, LA's got the
dubious lead, generating 24
million tons per year,
while London only produces
around 4 million tonnes
annually.
Here's
where London pulls ahead:
London's Mayor Boris
Johnson has two Waste
Management Strategies that
are very rapidly changing
the game plan in southern
England. Late last year,
Johnson's office published
London's
Wasted Resource and
Making
Business Sense of
Waste, policy
documents that add up
all they've learned over
the last half a decade
and describe how London
has been putting that
knowledge to work.
Granted, the Mayor is
working in a country
that wisely adds
Recovery to the waste
management hierarchy
just below Recycling and
above
Disposal.
What
happens when you let true
Leaders lead? You see
"pilot" food waste
collection and conversion
programs that start
with 10,000 residences,
businesses, and
institutions and then
rapidly expand by tossing
what didn't work, improving
on what did. You see an
increase in highly
integrated waste management
and resource recovery
infrastructure that links
collection, segregation,
composting, microbial
biogas and biofuel
generation, and thermal
conversion to heat and
power, not as
competing interests,
but as naturally
complementary processes.
You see a clear
relationship recognized
between greenhouse gas
emission reduction and
integrated multi-tech waste
reprocessing. What you get
is government-driven
increase in
localized waste
conversion designed to cut
the shipping distances to
off-shore reprocessors, put
the region on the path to
virtual elimination of
landfilling, and as a
consequence create a slew
of Green Jobs right in the
communities generating the
waste.
California
now has Mandatory
Commercial Recycling
(whoopee), but apparently
forgot to think about where
and how that segregated
stuff will get reprocessed.
In London, they are showing
Business how to make money
from the stuff they used to
throw away, and encouraging
things like on-site
conversion for heating,
cooling, power, and fuels.
Mayor Johnson is
encouraging regional
business waste Conversion,
which naturally
discourages disposal. Mayor
Boris Johnson: my
nomination for 2012 Waste
Conversion Hero.
Hey
Rube!
Not that Los
Angeles is a slacker: the
County Board of Supervisors has
just formally directed the
Department of Public Works
(DPW) to "get busy"
(again) with waste conversion.
Supervisor Knabe's motion
called out a four-point program
of Information, Outreach,
Advocacy, and Development that
seriously bolsters the DPW's
efforts. Go County,
Go!
The
Week's Extra Reading
Teru
submitted his
comments
last Friday
to CalRecycle in response to
their most recent request for
stakeholder imput on Materials
Recovery Facility (MRF)
Performance Standards for AB
341 implementation.
The
Week's News
CEC Plans
New RPS Guidelines for
Biomethane Projects to
Implement AB
2196
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has released a
notice regarding implementation
of Assembly Bill 2196 (AB2196
Chesbro, Chapter 605, Stats.
2012) by revising its
Renewables Portfolio Standard
(RPS) program guidelines
pertaining to electricity
generation facilities using
biomethane.
10/07/2012
Cambi
Process Selected for
Biosolids Pre-Treatment at
Netherlands
WWTP
Norway's organic waste
conversion specialist Cambi AS
has announced that its Thermal
Hydrolysis Process (THP) has
been selected to pre-treat
about 29,000 dry tonnes of
sewage sludge per year by
Heijmans, contractor for
the project “Energiefabriek
Tilburg” in the
Netherlands.
10/07/2012
Cyclone
Power Signs $2.5MM Stock
Purchase Agreement for
Equity
Financing
Florida based Cyclone Power has
announced a purchase agreement
for up to $2.5 million of
common stock to Global Emerging
Markets (GEM) under the
financier's Global Yield Fund
Ltd. (GGFY).
10/07/2012
APL
Schedules Gasification
Experimenters Fall Workshop
Weekend
All Power Labs (APL) of
Berkeley, California has
announced a fall hands-on
Gasification Experimenters Kit
(GEK) workshop and training
session for November 2nd
through the 5th in the
company's Berkeley, California
facilities.
10/06/2012
Carbon
Cultures Will Host BioChar
Tech Showcase and Field
Demonstration
University of Washington
spin-off company Carbon
Cultures has joined with the
Forestry Action Committee and a
local community group, the
Illinois Valley Forest
Practices Committee to present
a BioChar Technology Showcase
in southern Oregon.
10/06/2012
USFS Pursues
Transparency with Four
Forest Restoration
Initiative
Update
The US Forest Service (USFS)
Four Forest Restoration
Initiative
(4FRI) has provided a
thorough update of its
activities associated with
forest health and fire risk
reduction programs across
eastern Arizona national forest
lands.
10/04/2012
TMO Signs
LOI for 25-yr Feedstock
Supply with Brazilian Sugar
Mill
The United Kingdom's (UK)
biomass pre-treatment firm TMO
Renewables Ltd has announced
that the company signed a
Letter of Interest (LOI) for a
25-year cellulosic feedstock
supply agreement with Usina
Santa Maria Cerquilho (USMC) in
Sao Paulo state, Brazil.
10/04/2012
LanzaTech
Secures $15MM in Debt
Financing from Western Tech
Investment
New Zealand-based LanzaTech has
announced closing an additional
$15 million in debt financing
from Western Technology
Investment (WTI), a private
investment firm based in
Portola Valley,
California.
10/04/2012
CPUC Hosts
Thought Leaders Presentation
on Green Economy
Partnerships
The California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) has announced
the next presentation in the
Thought Leaders Speaker Series
addressing the benefits and
challenges of establishing
Strategic Public / Private
Partnerships focused on
developing the green economy in
California.
10/03/2012
ElectraTherm
Awarded Phase II and III of
DOE Geothermal
Grant
Nevada based ElectraTherm has
received award of Phase II and
III of its Department of Energy
(DOE) grant to accelerate
development of its
low-temperature waste heat to
power technology following
successful completion of Phase
I. 10/03/2012
Tembec
Inaugurates Mill Waste
Effluent to Biogas Plant at
Quebec Pulp
Mill
Montreal based Tembec, an
integrated manufacturer of
forest products (lumber, pulp,
paper and specialty cellulose),
has announced official
inauguration of a new anaerobic
digestion facility at its
Matane, Quebec high-volume pulp
mill.10/03/2012
Anaergia
Commissions Large-Scale Food
Waste to Biogas Plant in
Scotland
Canadian based company Anaergia
Inc. has announced successful
commissioning and operation of
a large-scale anaerobic
digestion (AD) facility in
Glenfarg, Scotland by its
subsidiary UTS Biogastechnik
GmbH (UTS Biogas).
10/03/2012
CED Funds
Sysgas to Assess Quebec
Landfill Gas for Use as
Biofuel
Canada Economic Development
(CED) for the Regions of Quebec
has announced a "repayable
contribution" to support
testing the potential for use
of methane-laden gas from the
Dolbeau-Mistassini Landfill.
10/02/2012
Aurora Algae
Completes Australian Demo
Facility, Secures $2MM LEED
Grant
California based algal
development company Aurora
Algae has announced completion
of all requirements of a $2
million Australian
government-funded Low Emissions
Energy Development (LEED)
grant.
10/02/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
10/15/2012: Pre-Proposals
for North Carolina Biofuels
Projects
The Biofuels Center of North
Carolina has announced the
release of a Request for
Proposals entitled
"Strengthening Feedstocks,
Production, and Products in
Western North Carolina."
10/02/2012
Due
11/07/2012: Renewable Energy
Project Proposals to LA
World
Airports
Update: Seven addendums have
been released to date, one of
which changed the proposal due
date from October 10, 2012 to
November 7, 2012.
10/02/2012
Due
11/13/2012: 2012 Renewable
Energy Proposals to Portland
General
Electric
Northwest regional investor
owned utility Portland General
Electric (PGE) has released a
Request for Proposals (RFP) for
up to 101 megawatts electric
(MWe) of renewable energy.
10/06/2012
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