Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
19, May 13,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Community-scale
waste conversion: that's
the idea that one size
doesn't fit all and
cleaning up our mess where
we make it makes sense.
We're working on the
concept that turning our
own crud into benefit for
our own neighborhood is
just right on so many
levels. Of course, not all
"communities" are the same
size: if you live in
Snowflake, Arizona, you
probably know most of your
neighbors and can tell if
Joe dumps his dead
refrigerator off the side
of the side road. Not true,
if your homestead is tucked
into a corner of the fine
community of Whittier,
California. It stands to
reason that the
technologies needed to
cleanly convert a
community's post-recycling
residual waste into the raw
materials for new goods
should vary dramatically in
through-put rate, as
well.
Part of
this equation relies on
whatever collection
mechanisms are already in
place to manage those
wastes and residuals. The
well-organized and
subsidized trash truck
routings of Whittier are a
far cry in scale from what
is needed to pick up and
manage the trash around
Eager and Snowflake, so any
waste conversion system
that must depend on the
left-overs after the cans
and bottles have been
gleaned needs to think
carefully about how big of
a unit to install. The same
is true if what you want to
convert are the
agricultural left-overs,
the straw and nut-shells,
rotten produce, and buggy
lettuce. You can't afford
to truck that mucky crud
very far, not with gas and
diesel prices so high, and
especially not, given this
mandate to Stop Trashing
Our Air, otherwise known as
the requirement to reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions that dominates
current
rulemakings.
Around
the beautiful Lake Tahoe
Basin in northern
California, keeping the
brush and pine-needles
cleaned up around the homes
isn't just the proper
neighborhood esthetic, it
is absolutely crucial. The
annual tonnage of raked-up
pine needles is
dumbfounding. Add to that
the carefully directed
thinnings to keep the
surrounding forests as
fire-safe as possible, and
your "community scale"
amounts of clean biomass
become an unmanageable
mountain all their own with
few sane management
options. After a mere
decade of attempts, it
seems the Tahoe Community
will get a break: the
County Supervisors, the
environmental watch-dogs
and the industrial sectors
have come to an agreement.
Right next to the local
Materials Recovery Facility
(MRF) where the trash
trucks bring the rubbish
will be built a "community
scale" gasifier to bake the
woody debris that would
have otherwise been put to
the torch. Instead of
humongous plumes of GHGs,
they'll be cranking out 2
megawatts of
electricity.
Could the
gasifier handle other kinds
of fuel? Yup. Isn't all
that potential feedstock
separated at the MRF just
going to the dump anyway?
Of course, but that wasn't
the agreement that got this
project through, the
stewardship plan that
brought consensus among
opposing parties. If you
want to put the unit in,
stick to using the pine
needles and slash that
would have just gone up in
smoke. Hey: it fits
this Community, and
it’s a good
start.
Hey
Rube!
Monumental changes are in
progress for the US Forest
Service's New Forest Plan. The
new Plan ensures that
communities have a say in the
stewardship of the forests
around them. The public comment
period has been extended on the
proposed directives for
implementation of the Plan; so
read up, weigh
in.
The
Week's News
Edgeley
Green Power Receives Council
Approval for £20MM Bioenergy
Plant
The United Kingdom (UK) based
Edgeley Green Power has
announced receipt of approval
to proceed with development of
a biofuel power station on a
one-acre site adjacent to the
existing Shoreham Power Station
on Fishersgate Terminal,
Shoreham Port in Southwick,
southern England.
05/10/2013
CEC Awards
$1.75MM for Biomass to Fuel
Cell Demo at Blue Lake
Rancheria
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
approval of 21 Public Interest
Energy Research (PIER) awards
and 13 Energy Innovation Small
Grants (EISG) totaling $14.5
million.
05/10/2013
Sierra
Institute in Plumas County
Is Awarded $300K CEC PIER
Grant
The Sierra Institute for
Community and Environment of
Taylorsville (Plumas County)
will receive $300,000 to
support a two-year effort to
develop a renewable energy and
energy efficiency action plan,
and to make locally-sourced
biomass available for public
heating system upgrades.
05/10/2013
RSB Services
Hosts Webinar on Selling
Renewable Biofuels into the
UK Market
RSB Services Foundation, the
implementation arm of the
Roundtable on Sustainable
Biofuels, has announced a free
webinar that it will co-host on
May 21, 2013 with the
certification firm SCS Global
Services.
05/09/2013
WRAP Funds
NNFCC and CNG to Assess Farm
Waste to Biogas
Networks
The York-based company NNFCC
has announced that the Waste
and Resources Action Programme
(WRAP) has provided funding to
assess the feasibility of
establishing farm waste to
biogas networks in the United
Kingdom (UK) by using a group
of Cheshire farmers as a test
case.
05/09/2013
CEC Approves
$100MM "Alt Fuels" Program
Investment Plan for
2013-2014
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
approval of the Investment Plan
for the Alternative and
Renewable Fuel and Vehicle
Technology Program (ARFVT, the
"Alt Fuels" program) for fiscal
year 2013-2014 during its May
8, 2013 Business Meeting.
05/09/2013
NIB Finances
New Biomass Combined Heat
and Power Plant in
Sweden
The Nordic Investment Bank
(NIB) has announced an
agreement to provide EUR 20
million financing for the
development of a combined heat
and power (CHP) biomass fueled
plant at Tallholmen, in the
City of Vimmerby, Sweden.
05/08/2013
Cyclone
Power Offered Support for
Ohio Production Line
Expansion
Florida-based Cyclone Power
Technologies reports that a
meeting with local, state, and
federal representatives in
Carroll, Ohio has resulted in a
significant offer of support
for the company's plans to
expand its engine production
operations.
05/08/2013
Vieste
Selects Abengoa to Build
$110MM Waste to Energy Plant
in
Arizona
The Spanish firm Abengoa has
announced that it has been
selected by Chicago-based
energy developer Vieste, LLC to
design, build, and operate a
facility for municipal solid
waste (MSW) to materials and
energy in Glendale, Arizona.
05/07/2013
Placer
County Approves 2MW Cabin
Creek Biomass Facility Near
Truckee
In Teru's own California
backyard, the Placer County
Board of Supervisors conducted
a public hearing on May 7, 2013
and unanimously approved the
proposed Conditional Use Permit
(CUP) and certified the Final
Environmental Impact Report
(FEIR SCH# 2011122032) for the
Cabin Creek Biomass Facility.
05/07/2013
USDA's
Value-Added Producer Grant
Winners Include Waste
Conversion
The US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has
announced that its Rural
Development program has
selected a total of 110
proposals for Value-Added
Producer Grant (VAPG) awards.
05/07/2013
ecoENERGY
Innovation Initiative Funds
55 Projects Across
Canada
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen
Harper has announced selection
of 55 proposals for support
through its ecoENERGY
Innovation Initiative, which
was introduced in Budget 2011,
and is being led by Natural
Resources Canada (NRCan).
05/07/2013
European
Intelli-Flue Project Focuses
on Domestic Wood Heating
Solution
The Basque non-profit research
and development center
IK4-Ikerlan has announced that
the Intelli-Flue project has
succeeded in designing a
low-cost retrofit for
residential and small business
conventional wood stoves.
05/06/2013
USFS Seeks
Additional Comments on New
Forest Plan Rule
Directives
The US Forest Service (USFS)
has announced an extension of
the public comment period to
solicit additional input
regarding the proposed
directives for implementing the
new Forest Planning Rule.
05/06/2013
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