Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
18, May 6,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
May Day!!
May Day!! (…just wanted to
get your
attention…)
News this
week seemed more
complicated than usual.
Some of that complexity we
can put off to the usual
multi-layered Agency
fal-de-ral, such as trying
to figure out when
proposals and comments are
actually due, and to whom.
Bear with the long
postings; we've tried to
make sure our readers can
actually DO something with
the information. Perhaps it
is just the nature of our
world; what with the
double-speak and hard sell,
we all need degrees as
detectives to find the
goods.
The UN's
delving into recovery of
rare and precious metals
from waste was pretty
clear, especially their
suggestion as to how we can
"fix" recycling; know what
Discarded Products contain
the metals we're after, and
select for those.
Yet their conclusions
lacked common sense. Every
gadget these days has been
made with some amount of
bolognium, whatsium, silver
and gold and we just can't
separate Everything by
product. Perhaps the UNEP
needs to think of this as a
Mining problem. We know we
can test to see how much
precious metal remains in
that gritty residual left
once all the cans and
bottles have been removed
at the MRF. Where there's
maybe a tenth of a gram
every ten to twenty tons,
we can process that crud as
an ore instead of trundling
it the back door to become
landfill cover.
New York
has hit on a winner of an
idea, releasing a
solicitation for a
Transition program that
jibes with what we've
learned by tracking waste
conversion companies as
they attempt to get from
Idea to Product. New
Technology is dandy, but
unless somebody with a head
for Business gets involved,
there is only a slim chance
it'll get funded and
commercialized any time
soon. The NYSERDA's
planning to teach
experienced Business Execs
about the tools of the
Clean Tech trade, then cut
them loose on this
struggling industrial
sector with the admonition,
"Go Make
Business!"
Instances
of Business Sense being
brought to bear on good
technology are becoming
more common, thank
goodness. It’s one
indication that these tools
for converting waste to
products are now becoming
part of the
input-process-output cycle
we live in, where one man's
trash … gets the attention
of Business as much as
Science. Example: great
progress has been made on
breaking down woody stuff
into fermentable and
digestible sugars; now,
we're finding these methods
being integrated into
regional infrastructures
for making and delivering
electricity, heat, fuels,
chemicals, and agricultural
commodities. The tools are
ready; what are we waiting
for? Well … it stands to
reason that the Brains that
figure out Cellulosic
Pre-Treatment may be a bit
shy when it comes to the
cut-throat Wheeling and
Dealing needed for
successful
commercialization. Like the
rest of our Society, this
Waste Conversion sector
also requires a Team
approach.
Hey
Rube!
Senate Bill 1122, now law, is a
key part of California's
attempts to boost the
community-scale conversion of
Biomass wastes and residuals
into Energy, Fuels, and other
commodities. The Public
Utilities Commission is chewing
on options for implementation,
headed for formal Rulemakings
later this year. It is time to
pay attention to this one to
watch the proceedings closely
and to periodically weigh in
with your own
perspective.
The
Week's News
Rentech
Enters Global Pellet
Production and Supply
Market
California based Rentech Inc.
has announced the $112 million
purchase of Georgia-based
Fulghum Fibres, and intends to
acquire two shuttered Ontario,
Canada wood fiber processing
mills.
05/05/2013
European
n-CHITOPACK Project Converts
Shrimp Waste to Food
Packaging
The collaborative project
n-CHITOPACK has reported on its
efforts to isolate and
commercialize chitin
nanocrystals (also known as
chitin nanofibrils, or CN) from
marine food wastes such as
shrimp and crab shells.
05/04/2013
CPUC Seeks
Comments on SB 1122
Small-Scale Bioenergy
Report
The California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) conducted a
public workshop on May 2, 2013
to receive stakeholder input on
a draft study by Black &
Veatch (B&V) titled,
“Small-scale Bioenergy:
Resource Potential, Costs, and
Feed-in Tariff Iimplementation
Assessment,” first released on
April 9, 2013.
05/03/2013
Vermont Tech
Breaks Ground for Waste
Biomass Anaerobic Digester
Facility
The Vermont Journalism Trust's
news service VT Digger has
reported on the ground-breaking
ceremony held May 1, 2013 for
the Central Vermont Recovered
Biomass Facility (CVRBF),
located on the Vermont
Technical College (VTC) campus
in Randolph.
05/03/2013
Russian
Pyrolysis Developer
Technokomplex Starts US
Distribution
Commercial for more than eight
years in Russia, Bulgaria, and
Turkey, the pyrolysis systems
manufacturer Technokomplex has
announced the onset of sales
and distribution in North
America.
05/02/2013
New UNEP
Reports Focus on Rare Metals
Recovery from
Waste
The United Nations
Environmental Program (UNEP)
has released two new
publications by its
International Resource Panel
(IRP) that are focused on the
need and methods for increasing
recovery rare and precious
metals from waste.
05/02/2013
Canergy
Selects Chemtex and Beta
Renewables for Cellulosic
Ethanol
Plant
California based Canergy LLC
has announced selection of
Chemtex and Beta Renewables for
development of a mixed
cellulosic ethanol and advanced
sugarcane-sucrose ethanol
biorefinery in southern
California.
05/02/2013
Clariant's
2012 Sustainability Report
Addresses Cellulosic Ethanol
Pilot
Plant
Headquartered in Munich,
Germany, Clariant Corporation
has announced the publication
of its Sustainability Report
2012.
04/29/2013
CEC
Announces Proposed Awardees
for RE and Conservation
Planning
Grants
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has posted the
Notice of Proposed Awards (NPOA
4/25/2013) for the Renewable
Energy and Conservation
Planning Grant solicitation
(PON 12-402).
04/29/2013
Peel Granted
Planning Approval for North
Selby Food Waste AD CHP
Project
Manchester, United Kingdom
based Peel Environmental has
announced that it has received
planning approval from the City
of York Council to proceed with
design and development of an
anaerobic digestion (AD)
combined heat and power (CHP)
and horticultural glasshouse
facility.
04/29/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
06/19/2013: Proposals to
NYSERDA for Clean Tech for
Executives
Program
The New York
State Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA)
has released a Program
Opportunity Notice (PON) 2730
seeking proposals to develop a
multi-year Clean Tech
Transition for Experienced
Executives program to educate
experienced executives
interested in seeking
opportunities in clean
technology (clean tech) and
renewable energy industries.
05/01/2013
Due
06/20/2013: Applications to
DOE for Tribal RE, Energy
Efficiency
Funding
The US Department of Energy,
Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy (DOE/EERE) has announced
a new Funding Opportunity
Announcement (DE-FOA-0000853)
for Tribal Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency Deployment
Assistance under the agency's
Tribal Energy Program.
05/02/2013
Due
06/27/2013: Applications to
DOE for Tribal
Community-Scale Clean
Energy
The US Department of Energy
(DOE) has announced new
renewable energy development
funding open to Indian Tribes,
Tribal Energy Resource
Development Organizations and
Tribal Consortia.
05/02/2013
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