Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
23, June 10,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
California
is again surveying the
progress, lack of progress,
and overall angst about
Bioenergy for the state's
in-progress Integrated
Energy Policy Report. We've
covered issues surrounding
biomethane (biogas) and all
the rest of Biomass Energy,
and encouraged our dear
readers to get chatty about
their Bio-Opinions with the
Energy Commission and Air
Resources Board. To follow
the Bio-Theme week, now
we're asking you to Save
the Date and plan to attend
a very different sort of
get together, the 8th
Annual California
Bioresiduals Symposium: A
Call to Action set for
September 18 and 19, 2013
in Sacramento. Different,
because it is both
important AND
cheap.
This
year's Symposium looks at
rules, regs, and policies
impacting what we can and
can’t do with leftover
biomass. It will focus
largely on agricultural,
forestry, and wastewater
bioresiduals, but touches
on municipal waste as well.
So what are "bioresiduals"
anyway, who controls what,
and how could we possibly
talk about this stuff for
two days? Let's start with
definitions: the straw and
stover "residuals" left
after harvest fall within
the oversight of the
Department of Food and
Agriculture. Vegetation
"residual" cleared from our
state and private woodlands
and forests is the turf of
the Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection. The
regional Water Boards deal
with wastewater treatment
plants and all the organic
residual goo they absorb
and convert. Of course, the
Feds manage their own
leftovers. Then there's
CalRecycle, whose logical
playing field is Municipal
Waste; once the bottles and
cans are pulled out, the
organics in the goop left
on the conveyor belt are
also considered
bioresidual.
Along
comes AB 341's Mandatory
Commercial Recycling
program being implemented
by CalRecycle. Every
"commercial" enterprise in
the state is covered by
this new regulation, which
means CalRecycle gets to
fuss with all the
bioresiduals usually
overseen by the other
agencies. Every time we
collect, sort, clean,
treat, and reconstitute
(convert to raw materials)
the crud discarded by
anyone other than a private
resident, we are Recycling
Commercial Waste. Easy to
see that any clean process
that converts
Commercially-Generated
Bioresiduals to raw
materials should be
considered in compliance
with the intent of AB 341.
CalRecycle however, doesn't
want to give credit for
many kinds of waste
conversion, quibbling over
the How mostly because it
doesn't fit their narrow
view of
"reconstituting."
This department is supposed
to be avidly promoting
clean recovery of raw
materials from the wastes
and residuals generated by
All commercial sectors.
Makes you wonder then why
the EPA Region 9 and UC
Davis, who are leading
development of this
Symposium, are finding so
little cooperation from
CalRecycle, indeed, a
refusal to even enter the
dialogue.
Hey
Rube!
Whether or
not the powers that be at
CalRecycle let their staff
participate in this year's
Bioresiduals Symposium, we want
to see your name on the
registration list and your
smilin' face in the audience.
These regulations impact You,
and what you can do to promote
a Circular Economy. The
rest of the agencies
want to hear from You, whether
dairyman/woman, forester, or
City Dweller. We are all trying
hard to help answer some basic
questions: (1) What can we do
with the Bioresidual Crud we
generate? and (2) What are the
available methods we can use to
cleanly accomplish that kind of
Waste (or Residuals)
Conversion?
The
Week's Extra Reading
See
Teru's
comments to the
California Assembly
Committee that will be
holding a Hearing on June
12th on CalRecycle's
management of "Recycled
and Environmentally
Preferred
Products"
The
Week's News
NOTE:
A recent problem has developed
with Internet Explorer 9's
ability to follow a link
directly to its location on a
page. If you are using other
web browsers, there doesn't
seem to be a problem. We are
hoping this will clear up in
future IE9 updates. Sometimes
the magic
works.
CARB Posts
Draft Alternative Diesel
Regulations, Schedules
Workshop
The California Air Resources
Board (CARB) has released draft
regulatory language for
oversight of the sale of
alternative diesel fuels in
California.
06/09/2013
GE Supplies
Waste Heat to Energy Systems
for Remote Alaskan
Community
General Electric Company (GE)
has announced that it will
provide its Clean Cycle waste
heat to power generator module
to the Kotzebue Electric
Association (KEA), servicing
remote cities in Alaska.
06/09/2013
Cool Planet
Energy Secures $29MM for
First Commercial Biofuels
Facility
Based in Camarillo, California,
the biofuels and biochemicals
company Cool Planet Energy
Systems has announced closure
on $29 million as part of a
Series D funding round seeking
$100 million total.
06/09/2013
California
Assembly to Review
CalRecycle Management of
Recycled
Products
The California Assembly's
Committee on Accountability and
Administrative Review has now
posted notice of an
informational and oversight
hearing scheduled for June 12,
2013 to consider agency
management of "Recycled and
Environmentally Preferred
Products."
06/07/2013
CPUC
Commissioner Will Keynote
Annual California
Bioresiduals
Symposium
Commissioner Carla Peterman
with the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC)
will provide the opening
Keynote: "The Future Role of
California Bioenergy" for this
year's California Bioresiduals
Alliance.
06/07/2013
Canada's
AgriInnovation Program
Supports Bio-Composite
Development
The Canada Department of
Agriculture and Agri-Food has
announced that the Harper
Government is supporting
development and
commercialization of non-food
bio-plastics and
bio-composites.
06/06/2013
Draft Energy
Bill Focuses on
Decarbonization of UK Power
Industry
The United Kingdom (UK)
Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) has
released details of its Energy
Bill, now moving through the
UK's House of Commons.
06/06/2013
GETH Secures
Off-Take Agreement for Crude
Oil from Waste Plastic and
Tires
Newly headquartered in Oakdale,
California, Green Envirotech
Holdings LLC (GETH) has
announced execution of an
agreement with Ebbros Energy
Partners, LLC of Overland Park,
Kansas, following on an Oil
Production Revenue Sharing
Agreement between the companies
in March.
06/05/2013
World
Bioenergy Association
Releases Biomass to Biogas
Fact
Sheet
Based in Sweden with a global
presence, the World Bioenergy
Association (WBA) has announced
the launch of its fifth
publication, "Biomass - an
Important Renewable Energy
Source" as part of a series of
verifiable, easily referenced
sources of information
addressing global biogas usage
and potential.
06/05/2013
Suez
Environnement and Demeter
Invest in COGEBIO for
Biomass
Gasification
France based Suez Environnement
has announced that its venture
capital fund "Blue Orange" has
partnered with Demeter Partners
in an investment into the
French company COGEBIO SA.
06/05/2013
Greenleaf
Power Finalizes Tracy,
California Biomass Plant
Acquisition
California based Greenleaf
Power, LLC has announced
finalization of its acquisition
of the 19 megawatt electric
(MWe) Tracy Biomass plant in
northern California from US
Renewables Group, which has
owned and operated the plant
since 2007. Greenleaf Power
acquires, develops, owns, and
operates power projects that
utilize residual biomass as
fuel.
06/05/2013
Ad Astra and
Cummins Run Generator on
Biogas and Hydrogen in Costa
Rica
Texas based Ad Astra Rocket
Company has announced that in
collaboration with engineers
from Cummins Inc., they have
successfully run a
Cummins-built generator on
mixtures of hydrogen and biogas
in Costa Rica.
06/05/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
07/23/2013: Applications to
California EISG Small Grant
Programs
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) Energy
Innovation Small Grant (EISG)
Program has again released a
cycle of funding opportunities
for its Electricity Program
(13-02), for the Natural Gas
Program (13-02G), and for the
broader Transportation Program,
which itself is broken into an
Electricity element (13-03T-
Electricity) and a Natural Gas
element (13-02T-Natural Gas).
06/05/2013
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