Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
11, March 18,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
There's
been a noticeable
international up-tick in
commercial waste conversion
interest, company growth,
and project development
over the past few months.
Maybe it’s the weather -
coming out from under what
has been a brutal winter
for many. Maybe it’s the
recognition that, hey,
there's Money in that
Trash. Maybe it’s the
global mind-set that
somehow we need to quit
complaining and get back to
work. Regardless the
reason, Company Growth
means Jobs. But if we think
it has been difficult to
find the right Widget to
turn our specific type of
waste goop into gold, it is
equally hard to find that
latent brain-trust out
there that can effectively
aid in supporting that
growth. Face it: a firm
gets their feet on the
ground, gets that first few
projects initiated, and
suddenly finds themselves
strapped for Bright
Employees with the
background and the gumption
to Make It
Happen.
We worked
through the first three
Commercial Readiness Levels
or CRLs in last week's
Trash Talk: (1) Run it till
it breaks, fix it and run
it till it is stabile; (2)
Find somebody Outside that
can also say the thing
works, and (3) Make sure
you have Business Heads
that can turn that Waste
Conversion Thingie and its
Operators into Money. The
next three logical steps:
(4) Find those Initial
Backers smart enough to
know a Good Thing when you
prove it to them; (5) Get
that first Reference
Project on the ground and
working, and (6) Start
attracting Bright People to
add to the crew. Those
crucial CRLs sometimes tend
to all happen at once, and
also tend to catch
companies off-guard: Yeah!
We've got some Money!
followed by Yeah! We've got
some Projects! and then Oh
Crud! We need some People!
Companies can stall out for
lack of brains.
Here's
where the rest of us come
in. It's a pretty safe bet
to say there's a whole lot
of under-utilized talent
out there: very smart
individuals who for the
past half decade have been
dog-paddling to stay
afloat, along with a bunch
of small companies with
good tools that need to
quick-like find Strategic
Partners. Where, O where
can we go to keep up with
this fast-changing field?
How in the world can we
match up Need to Service,
People to Jobs in this
rapidly-expanding Waste
Conversion sector? What we
need is an Impartial
Observer, somebody who can
track all these emerging
Waste Conversion
regulations, policies,
opportunities and companies
in real-time, a place with
all the current contact
info and uh … wait a
minute: that sounds just
like Teru Talk!
Hey
Rube!
Right ... you're not out of
work: you're a Consultant. So
just for fun, pretend you
actually DO need to (a)
generally increase your income,
(b) find a company with cool
waste conversion thingies to
work with, and/or (c) figure
out how to marry up with a
complementary team. Our web
service works hard to not just
Roll the News, but to provide
all the stuff you need to Do
Business. Here's a daily
routine you might consider
adopting. Think about what sort
of Change is being reported
upon in each News item, and
conjure up what that Company
now needs in response to that
change. Imagine sitting down
with that firm's Interviewer:
what would they ask about you,
and what would you answer? How
does your own background
complement what is now needed?
Take notes, do your homework.
Then sleep on it. And bright
and early the next day, Call
Them
Up.
The
Week's News
8th Annual
California Bioresources
Alliance Symposium, Sep.
18-19,
2013
The eighth annual California
Bioresources Alliance Symposium
will be held on September
18-19, 2013 from 9 a.m.- 5
p.m.at the Cal/EPA Building,
1001 I Street, Sacramento.
03/17/2013
Aston
University's EBRI Pyroformer
Wins UK's Best Tech
Breakthrough
Award
Aston University in the United
Kingdom (UK) has announced that
its European Bioenergy Research
Institute (EBRI) has won the
Best Technological Breakthrough
award for its Pyroformer at the
national Climate Week Awards
held at the UK House of
Commons.
03/16/2013
Neiker-Tecnalia to
Convert Biogas Organic
Residuals to High-Quality
Fertilizer
The Basque Institute for
Agricultural Research and
Development, Neiker-Tecnalia,
has announced plans to develop
a pilot facility for conversion
of the organic residual from
anaerobic digestion (AD) into
stabile, effective fertilizer.
03/16/2013
Houston Wins
$1MM Mayor's Challenge Award
for "One Bin For
All"
Bloomberg Philanthropies has
announced that the City of
Houston has claimed one of four
$1 million Mayor's Challenge
Innovation awards for the
City's proposed single bin
waste collection program, and
highly-automated materials
recovery system designed to
recycle 75% of all waste.
03/15/2013
Lignol
Invests in and Collaborates
with Australia's Territory
Biofuels
British Columbia bioproducts
company Lignol Energy
Corporation (LEC) has invested
A$1.8 million in the Australian
biodiesel and glycerin
processing firm Territory
Biofuels Limited (TBF).
03/15/2013
Xergi Biogas
Plant to Convert Waste from
French Wine and Cheese
Production
The Danish firm Xergi A/S has
announced that it will supply a
biogas plant with anaerobic
digestion and biogas upgrading
modules to the French developer
Marnay Energie for installation
in the small town of Feux near
Sancerre in central France.
03/15/2013
Codexis
Launches Next Generation
Engineered Cellulase
Enzymes
California based Codexis, Inc.
has announced the availability
of its next
generation engineered
enzyme packages CodeXyme® 4 and
CodeXyme® 4X for use in
producing cellulosic sugar for
production of biofuels and
bio-based chemicals.
03/15/2013
Sweetwater
Wins 2013 World Biofuels
Sustainable Feedstock
Process
Award
New York based Sweetwater
Energy, Inc. has announced
receipt of the 2013 Sustainable
Feedstock Processing award "for
the most exciting new feedstock
innovation" in this year's
World Biofuels Markets
competition in the Netherlands.
03/14/2013
BCBN Loans
$1.5MM to Quadrogen for
Landfill Gas Cleanup Process
Demo
The Vancouver based BC
Bioenergy Network (BCBN) has
announced approval of a loan of
$1.5 million to Quadrogen Power
Systems, Inc to demonstrate
landfill gas clean-up to
ultra-clean levels for
sustainable energy.
03/14/2013
Metso-Equipped
Biomass Gasification Plant
Inaugurated in
Finland
Finland based Metso Corporation
has announced that the biomass
plant developer Vaskiluodon
Voima Oy has inaugurated what
is purported to be the world’s
largest biomass gasification
plant, based around Metso's
gasification technology.
03/14/2013
Becon Opens
Public Consultation on
MBT-EfW Plant for Northern
Ireland
The United Kingdom based Becon
Consortium has announced a
public consultation to acquaint
the community with its proposed
waste management complex in
eastern Northern Ireland. The
project is being proposed in
response to a solicitation
released by the arc21 group,
the waste management group
representing eleven councils.
03/14/2013
Amyris Joins
Bonsucro for Sugar Cane
Sustainability and
Certification
California based biofuels and
biochemicals company Amyris,
Inc. has announced that it has
joined the non-profit sugarcane
sustainability association
Bonsucro with the intent to
secure certification of Amyris'
products as sustainably
produced.
03/13/2013
Anellotech
Plans to Distribute Large
Samples of Bio-sourced
Benzene,
Toluene
With a new headquarters,
laboratory, and pilot plant
established in Pearl River, New
York, Anellotech Inc. has
announced that it plans to make
100 kilogram quantities of its
bio-sourced "green" benzene,
toluene, and xylene available
to strategic partners for
downstream product development.
03/13/2013
DOE Issues
Guide for Large Scale
Renewable Projects on
Federal
Facilities
The US Department of Energy
(DOE) has announced that its
Federal Energy Management
Program has issued "The
Large-Scale Renewable Energy
Guide: Developing Renewable
Energy Projects Larger than 10
MWs at Federal Facilities."
03/13/2013
ZeaChem
Produces Commercial Grade
Cellulosic Ethanol and
Biochemicals
Colorado-based ZeaChem has
announced that it has
successfully produced its first
volumes of commercial grade
cellulosic biochemicals and
ethanol at the company's
250,000 gallon per year
biorefinery in Boardman,
Oregon.
03/13/2013
Solutions4CO2 Signs
Agreement With Vir-Clar Farm
Power for Biogas
Refinery
Canadian firm Solutions4CO2
Inc. (S4CO2) has announced
entering an agreement with
Vir-Clar Farm Power, LLC
(Vir-Clar) of Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin to build an
Integrated Biogas Refinery™
("IBR") at the Vir-Clar dairy
farm in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
03/11/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
03/25/2013: Comments to CEC
on Proposed RPS Guidebook
Changes
Update
: The
presentation from the March
14, 2013
Staff
Workshop on Proposed Changes
to the Renewables Portfolio
Standard Eligibility
Guidebook is now available
on the CEC's website. The
comment period has been
extended to March 25, 2013.
03/16/2013
Due
05/31/2013: Applications to
Pacific Power for Renewable
Energy
Projects
Pacific Power has released a
Request for Applications for
funding through its Blue Sky
renewable energy program to
support community-based
renewable energy projects
within the company's service
territory.
03/15/2013
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