Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
42, October 15,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
There's
the old joke, "Raise your
hand, who's not here…" and
it applies to this business
of tracking the ways
communities convert waste.
The Internet is a pretty
awesome tool. The amount of
stuff entering the
information flow making up
Global Communications is
certainly overwhelming. We
humans are witnessing more
about our own foibles than
we ever could before and
just Seeing So Much is
changing how we perceive
life. But there are gaps,
blank places in this view
and it is all too easy to
assume nothing is actually
occurring when we don't see
it on the local news. Teru
Talk's focus on sussing out
how Waste gets turned back
into Goods is subject to
this same blindness, but
that doesn't mean there
aren't important advances
someplace just because we
can't see around the
corners.
Take
India for an example …
Serious amount of people
there, and all doing the
Throw-Away thing every
single day like the rest of
us. What we can glean shows
that the Indian government
is furiously trying
to figure out Waste
Conversion, and those that
find a way to understand
India are finding that
their International Waste
Conversion Business is
booming. But Press
Releases? Not so much. More
often, the only glimpse we
get is from their local
news reporters chatting up
the guys at some plant, or
guessing at what the
Government over there is
doing with all that
trash.
Here's
one: Hindustani Times says
the Tihar Jail in northern
India is working with (of
all things) the Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre to
set up two anaerobic
digestion systems at the
prison for conversion of
the organic waste from
12,500 inmates (!!!!) into
biogas to run the kitchens
and bakery, cutting
disposal and fuel costs to
the nub. The project will
move from Design to
Operations in just three
months. US prisons could
learn a thing or two from
Tihar.
But the
news dark corners aren't
just in Berzerkistan: it is
especially difficult for
small, innovative companies
to know when, what, and how
much to say about what they
have been doing. Everybody
wants to wait just a bit
longer until the Big Thing
is completed. Even some of
the successful firms often
are slackers about shining
a light on their own work.
They are concentrating on
Closing the Deal and Doing
the Job, not squawking
about how cool they are.
Good Business, but hard to
See, to observe and report.
Letting the world know what
you are up to is a
relatively cheap way to
increase the speed of
global economic recovery,
and it is simply astounding
how far and how fast the
Word gets out, if you just
take the time to put that
Word into the common info
flow. Winking in the dark
just doesn't get it
done.
Hey
Rube!
Here's a nice
approach we spotted this week,
figured out by a UK company
that makes custom biogas
storage systems. Once a week,
they publish an interview with
one of the Big AD-to-Biogas
Companies that buy their
systems, creating Business to
Business discussions that get
right into the meat of each
company's offerings. You know,
that works well for the
interviewer and the interviewee
and is a slick method almost
any small company could copy.
Kudos to Base Structures for a
nice way to help us peek around
corners.
The
Week's News
India's
Tihar Jail Will Convert
Organic Waste to Biogas to
Run Kitchens,
Bakery
The Department of Delhi Prisons
accepted bids late last month
for the turn-key design,
supply, installation, and
maintenance of anaerobic
digestion (AD) systems (biogas
plants) at
the Central Jail, located at
Tihar Village, National Capital
Territory of Delhi, India.
10/14/2012
UCS Reports
680MM Tons of Biomass Can Be
Available Annually in US by
2030
The Union of Concerned
Scientists (UCS) has announced
the release of a short report
called The Promise of Biomass,
assessing the type and
availability of biomass by 2030
for use as fuel for conversion
to energy, fuels and other
commodities.
10/14/2012
Global
Bioenergies Develops
Production Pathway for
Bio-Sourced
Propylene
French-based bio-products
company Global Bioenergies has
announced success in developing
a metabolic pathway for direct
conversion of biomass to
propylene, a foundation
chemical previously sourced
strictly from petroleum.
10/14/2012
Scottish
£103MM Renewable Energy
Investment Fund Opens for
Business
Scotland's economic development
agency Scottish Enterprise has
announced that the Scottish
Investment Bank (SIB) has
launched the Renewable Energy
Investment Fund (REIF).
10/12/2012
Fibria and
Ensyn Form JV for Cellulosic
Biobased Fuels and Chemicals
in Brazil
Canada's pyrolysis specialist
Ensyn has announced a strategic
alliance that includes
formation of a 50-50 joint
venture with Brazilian forest
products company Fibria
Celulose SA; Fibria will invest
$20 million in Ensyn as part of
the agreement.
10/11/2012
OriginOil
Granted Australian Patent
for Algae Harvesting
Technology
California based OriginOil has
announced approval of a 20-year
international Patent
#2010239380 from the Australian
patent office for its algae
harvesting technology.
10/11/2012
Dynamic
Energy Pursues License for
Pyrolytic Oil Side-Product
Technology
Dynamic Energy Alliance
Corporation (DEAC) has
announced its subsidiary
Dynamic Energy IP, LLC has
entered into an agreement in
principle to acquire an
exclusive license from the firm
Terpen Kraftig LLC (TKF),
contingent upon DEAC's ability
to raise the required capital.
10/11/2012
European
Retailers Pledge Greater
Food Waste Prevention
Actions
At this week's Retail Forum in
Brussels, the European
Commission (EC)
reported
that its Environmental
Commissioner Janez Potočnik
reinforced the EC's directive
to cut food waste disposal in
half by 2020 and called on
retailers to "spearhead the
creation of the green economy
by taking progressive actions
that go beyond the easy
pickings."
10/11/2012
GWE Biogas
Wins Chamber Bridlington and
Yorkshire Coast Business
Awards
The Chamber Bridlington and
Yorkshire Coast (CBYC) Business
Awards have been announced for
2012, and GWE Biogas Ltd of
East Yorkshire, United Kingdom,
has taken the top awards as
both the Overall Business of
the Year and the Green Business
of the Year.
10/11/2012
CEC
Announces Proposed AB 118
Round 2 Biofuels Awards for
2012
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
selection of Round 2 awardees
from the January 2012
Alternative and Renewable Fuel
and Vehicle Technology Program
Grant Solicitation
(PON-11-601).
10/10/2012
BASF and CSM
Form Joint Venture for
Bio-Sourced Succinic
Acid
Two international giants, "The
Chemical Company" BASF and
multi-sector CSM, have
announced that they have
established a joint venture for
production and sale of
bio-sourced succinic acid.
10/10/2012
World Energy
Forum Selects Vietnam Biogas
Program for Humanitarian
Award
The World Energy Forum 2012 has
announced awardees in the
categories of Policy,
Technology Innovation,
Humanitarian, Best Practice,
Environmental, and Woman in
Energy; awards are to be
presented on the opening day of
its Forum on October 22-24,
2012 in Dubai.
10/10/2012
Global
Methane Initiative Releases
Landfill Gas Best Practices
Guide
The Global Methane Initiative
(GMI) has released the
International Best Practices
Guide for Landfill Gas Energy
Projects, providing a broad
overview of the development
process for landfill gas energy
projects (LFGE) projects and
presenting the technological,
economic, and political
considerations that typically
affect the success of LFGE
projects in international
settings.
10/10/2012
Genesis
Biofuel and Abundant Energy
Solutions Enter into Joint
Venture
Colorado based Genesis Biofuel,
Inc has announced formation of
a joint venture with the
company Abundant Energy
Solutions (AES), an affiliate
of Colorado Energy Research
Technologies (CERT).
10/10/2012
Enval
Selects Alconbury for
Location of First Laminate
Reprocessing
Plant
Recycling technology developer
Enval Ltd has announced
selection of the Alconbury
Enterprise Zone about 50 miles
north of London as the site for
the company's first commercial
plastic-aluminum laminate
reprocessing facility.
10/08/2012
Base Structures Posts "Talking
Head" Interview with Clearfleau
Director
Headquartered in Bristol, Base
Structures Ltd has now posted
the second in a series of
"Talking Head" interviews with
key anaerobic digestion (AD)
companies in Europe and New
Zealand, this time with Richard
Gueterbock, communications
director of Clearfleau Ltd.
10/08/2012
Dixon Ridge
Farms Receives EPA's 2012
Sustainable Ag Champion
Award
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced that it
has presented Dixon Ridge Farms
founder Russ Lester with the
Pacific Southwest Region’s
(Region 9) 2012 Sustainable
Agricultural Champion Award.
10/08/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
11/01/2012: Applications for
UBC Future Forests Doctoral
Fellowship
The University of British
Columbia (UBC) has announced
start of acceptance of
applications for up to a
four-year doctoral fellowship
offering $60,000 annually under
its Future Forests Fellowship
program.
10/08/2012
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