Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
52, December 24,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
 Christmas
is a good time to
consider the Angels
among us. By all
accounts, Angels are
generally benevolent
but some have been
classically short on
patience. We can
witness this first
hand with regard to
matters of waste
conversion, observing
both the desire to
make things better,
and the actions taken
when that Angelic
patience wears
thin.
In the
City/County of the Angels,
otherwise known as Los
Angeles, California,
patience for waiting for
authority figures to figure
out waste conversion has
just about run dry. After
all, much of the actual
decision-making remains at
the local level, despite
long-standing attempts to
divest municipalities of
their control. Yes, yes …
the State still have a say,
and the Feds certainly can
weigh in heavily when their
attention is attracted to
some particularly onerous
(or lucrative) Happening,
but most of the regs
push the responsibility for
implementation back onto
the local governance. For
Los Angeles, a realm as
large and populous as most
mid-eastern states and
indeed larger than a number
of European countries,
managing its own waste just
comes naturally.
First,
there's this Bizness of a
"Waste Management
Hierarchy": just what IS
important? The County
flipped the state's idea on
its head, focused the bulk
of their New Waste
Management Paradigm to
Waste Prevention, then
Reuse, then Recycling … and
added Recovery / Composting
above waste to energy and
the Last Resort, disposal.
And if that In-Your-Face
move wasn't enough, the
County adopted their own
definitions for "Conversion
Technologies" and
"Recovery" and the County
Board of Sups directed the
Public Works Department to
light all burners and
proceed with mainstreaming
Waste
Conversion.
Meanwhile,
California's current
version of a state-level
waste management oversight
agency CalRecycle continues
to stumble over
implementing its own laws.
How hard can it be to read
the state law: "Recycling =
Collect, Sort, Clean,
Pre-treat, and Reprocess to
Raw Materials"? When you
don't know where, to what
degree or even IF the last
couple steps in that
process actually occur, how
do you know if you are
Recycling?. And to
"Reprocess", you need Waste
Conversion.
The
Leaders of Los Angeles get
it, and they aren't alone.
Neighbor state Oregon's
well along the path to
redefining Waste in terms
of overall "Materials
Management", including a
whole Rulemaking regarding
conversion technologies.
The concept of a circular
"materials economy", where
every scrap of waste is
turned right back around
locally into raw materials
is also one of the Hottest
Topic in the United Kingdom
right now.
Los Angeles is practicing
the Zen of municipal
management: envisioning a
challenge as already met,
as having been accomplished
and now waiting for the
next stage, solves many
presumed problems. How do
you implement Waste
Conversion in California?
There! It's
done.
Hey
Rube!
Merry
Christmas and Happy Holidays to
each and every
one!
The
Week's News
European
Commission Names 23 Projects
for €1.2 billion in NER300
Funding
The European Commission (EC)
has announced over €1.2 billion
funding to 23 "highly
innovative" renewable energy
projects selected from the
first call for proposals to be
financed by the New Entrant's
Reserve (NER) of the European
Union Emissions Trading System.
12/22/2012
AEC Releases
Cellulosic Biofuels Industry
Progress 2012-2013
Report
The Advanced Ethanol Council
(AEC) has announced the release
of a report on active
cellulosic ethanol projects in
the United States, the
Cellulosic Biofuels Industry
Progress Report 2012-2013.
12/22/2012
VTT Wins
EARTO Innovation Award for
Processing Biomass to
Bio-Oil +
CHP
The European Association for
Research and Technology
Organisations (EARTO) has
presented an innovation award
to the VTT Technical Research
Centre of Finland for its
breakthrough in processing
biomass to both Bio-Oil and
Combined Heat and Power (CHP).
12/20/2012
Fortum, City
of Stockholm to Develop
Biomass Combined Heat and
PowerPlant
Finland's diversified energy
company Fortum has announced
that its wholly owned
subsidiary Fortum Värme will
partner with the City of
Stockholm to develop a new EUR
500 million biomass combined
heat and power (CHP) plant in
Värtan, Stockholm, upgrading
Värme's existing facilities.
12/20/2012
European
Biofuels Technology Platform
Schedules 5th Plenary
Meeting
The European Biofuels
Technology Platform (EBTP) has
announced its 5th Stakeholder
Plenary Meeting (SPM5), to be
held at the Diamante Conference
Centre in Brussels on February
6-7, 2013.
12/19/2012
Neste Oil to
Produce Renewable Aviation
Fuel for EU Funded ITAKA
Project
Finland based Neste Oil has
announced its participation in
the 36-month European Union
(EU) funded "Initiative Towards
Sustainable Kerosene for
Aviation" (ITAKA) project.
12/19/2012
NYSERDA $1MM
Incentive Helps Launch Matt
Brewing Biogas-to-Power
Project
The New York State Energy
Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA) has
announced a partnership with
F.X. Matt Brewing Company and
the National Grid designed to
commission an anaerobic
digestion (AD) combined heat
and power (CHP) system.
12/19/2012
MagneGas and
Sustainable Green Sign $1MM
Fuel Distribution
Agreement
Florida based plasma waste to
fuel specialist MagneGas has
announced a two-year cutting
fuel gas pre-purchase agreement
with Washington based
Sustainable Green Corporation
(SGC), who will become the
exclusive distributor of the
hydrogen-rich gas in the
Pacific Northwest.
12/19/2012
UK Solidifies
Renewable Obligation for
Biomass and Solar
Energy
The United Kingdom (UK)
Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) has
announced finalization of rates
for biomass and solar generated
renewable energy, under the
Renewables Obligation (RO) for
utilities power purchase
agreements.
12/18/2012
USDA Awards
$349,695 to MSU for Next
Generation Biofuels
Research
Michigan State University's
(MSU) Agriculture Technology
program has received an award
of $349,695 from the US
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) to develop next
generation biofuels.
12/18/2012
GCS to
Operate Pinellas Energy from
Waste Plant in Tampa
Florida
Based in New York, Green
Conversion Systems (GCS) has
announced the acquisition of an
Operating Agreement for the
Pinellas Energy from Waste
(EfW) Facility in Tampa,
Florida.
12/17/2012
Ottawa City
Council and Mayor Approve
Plasco Waste to Energy
Project
Plasma waste conversion company
Plasco Energy Group reports
that the City Council of
Ottawa, Canada "overwhelmingly
endorses" plasma gasification
of the city's waste, after
signing a 20 year contract with
provisions for extensions.
12/17/2012
ADB Will
Loan $74MM for Community
Scale Biogas Plants in
Vietnam
The Asian Development Bank
(ADB) has announced that it
will provide a loan of $74
million to fund installation of
thousands of domestic biogas
plants across Vietnam to turn
rural waste, a growing source
of environmental damage, into
energy and fertilizer.
12/17/2012
Australian CleanTech Program
Grants $6.2MM for Animal Waste
Biogas
Project
The Australian office of the
Minister for Industry and
Innovation, Climate Change and
Energy Efficiency has announced
an award of $6.2 million from
the Government's Clean
Technology Food and Foundries
Investment Program to AJ Bush
& Sons for its rendering
plant in the Bromelton State
Development Area.
12/17/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due
01/04/2013: Comments to CEC
on Draft Renewable Energy
Planning
Grants
Update: Due date for comments
has been extended to January 4,
2013.
12/20/2012
Due
01/13/2013: Concept Paper to
DOE to Improve Bio-Oil
Conversion
The US Department of Energy
(DOE) has announced the release
of a Funding Opportunity
Announcement (FOA) to address
challenges identified during
the December 2011 workshop,
“Conversion Technologies for
Advanced Biofuels” (CTAB) and
from a prior Request for
Information (RFI) in November
2012.
12/17/2012
Due
02/15/2013: Comments on
Massachusetts Draft Solid
Waste Master
Plan
The Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (Mass
DEP) is seeking public comment
on the state administration's
draft Solid Waste Master Plan,
specifically regarding
modifications to the current
moratorium on municipal solid
waste incineration.
12/20/2012
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