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Teru Talk News

Teru Talk Newsletter

Volume III, Issue 27, July 8, 2013 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "Terú")  

Teru's Trash Talk

The Worldwatch Institute just finished a study of Energy in Central America and came to the conclusion that it is "both technically feasible and socio-economically beneficial" for the entire region to rapidly transition to 100% renewable energy. All that is needed is knowledge, policy, and money. Bet they spent a bundle figuring THAT one out …

Two decades ago, it was the lack of Technology that posed the most difficulty. Now we have clean energy systems that can provide needed heat, power, fuels, and chemicals without depending on the bubbling crude. The needs and the barriers may differ between Costa Rica and Boca Raton, between the cloud forests of Guatemala and the yellow pine forests of the Western States, but competent energy systems work wherever they are properly installed.

When it comes to waste conversion, we know that regardless of where we live, we can improve on our lot by putting discards back into use instead of burying the stuff, torching it in barrels or simply pushing it off the side of the road. With the internet (and Teru Talk) we have a much better idea of what tools are out there and where to find them, so the knowledge barrier is not as tough as it used to be. Bright folks are figuring out how to combine these new tools to meet almost any mixed waste conversion challenge. Whole new kinds of "biorefineries" are springing up to accept just about any kind of waste and run it through a wide variety of reprocessing systems to make all sorts of the new stuff we demand.

Global governmental policies at all levels are pushing for waste reduction, discarded goods reuse, recycling of the things that need to be pulled apart and remade, and remanufacturing of those recycled raw materials back into new goods. Policies are using the stick of per-ton carbon payments and the carrot of grants and tariffs to shift our socio-economic behavior toward that fabled Circular Economy. Policies that in general, are pushing us toward instead of away from environmental sanity.

And now, in just the last six months or so, we're starting to see the Money. After wallowing around in economic self-pity and knee-jerk financial paranoia, there's a grudging acknowledgement in the investment and banking community that a lot of these waste-to-goods things work after all. Granted, there are some scary-inventive ways some are "structuring" their economics to attract funds and there are bound to be the grand failures, but sometimes you have to bleed to heal. So many of us have been out there dog-paddling, waiting for those waves of funding to start coming in ... Head's Up, now, the swells are shaping up real nice.

Hey Rube!

One of the nifty ways we see Waste becoming Goods happens when waste managers can turn part of their charge back into fuel for the fleets of big trucks running along our highways. When you tally greenhouse gas generated during the movement of goods from first purchase to discard to remaking, that transport part produces a lot of the total Impact of the waste management sector. The California Air Board is focused on the issue of Transport Emissions reduction, and betting heavily on alternative low carbon fuels to meet the state's emissions reduction goals. Front and center in terms of the needed Knowledge, Tools, Policies, and now starting to attract the Real Money are those folks making low carbon fuels from waste.

The Week's News

NOTE: If you are using IE10 and our website isn't loading as smoothly as you would like or the page jumps when you click on a link to go to a certain news item, just change to "compatibility view" and all will be fine.

 

Clarke to Supply Biogas Engines for Tamar's UK Anaerobic Digestion Plants

United Kingdom based Clarke Energy has announced securing a four-project supply contract with Tamar Energy of London. 07/06/2013

Technokomplex Ships Pirotex Low-Temp Pyrolysis Plant to Columbia

Based in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, the company Technokomplex has announced shipment of a Pirotex low-temperature, closed loop pyrolysis plant to clients in Columbia. 07/06/2013

DECC Proposes Home and Business Scale Feed-in Tariffs to Parliament

The United Kingdom (UK) Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has announced that it has introduced its Feed-in Tariff (FIT) proposals before Parliament for amendments to the country's Energy Bill. 07/05/2013

Algae.Tec to Convert Emissions to Biofuels at AU's Largest Coal-Fired Plant

Australia (AU) based Algae.Tec has announced entering into an agreement with Macquarie Generation, the country's largest coal-fired power plant for algae carbon capture. 07/05/2013

Worldwatch Releases Renewable Energy Report on Central America

Washington, D.C. based non-profit Worldwatch Institute has published its latest energy report, The Way Forward for Renewable Energy in Central America, and is available free of charge for on-line download. 07/05/2013

Green Biologics, Easy Energy Collaborate on Iowa Biochemical Demo Plant

United Kingdom (UK) based Green Biologics Ltd. (GBL) has announced entering into a collaborative agreement to modify Easy Energy Systems's ethanol demonstration plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa to produce renewable n-butanol and acetone. 07/03/2013

DOE Awards $13MM to Support Four R&D Biofuels Projects

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a total of $13 million in funding for four research and development (R&D) next generation biofuels projects to optimize production of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels from biomass. 07/03/2013

CARB Announces Goods Movement Emission Reduction Workshop Series

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced a series of public workshops to discuss preliminary recommendations for use of $150 million in funding awards to local and state agencies for projects through the Proposition 1B: Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program. 07/03/2013

Milton Keyes Council Awards Waste Recovery Contract to AmeyCespa

The Milton Keyes Council has announced entering into contract with United Kingdom (UK) based AmeyCespa to design, build, and operate the Milton Keyes Recovery Park. 07/02/2013

NREL Launches Utility-Scale Energy Systems Integration Facility

The US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced the opening of the unique utility-scale Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) on its Golden, Colorado research and development campus. 07/02/2013

Abengoa Inaugurates First Waste-to-Biofuels Demo Plant in Salamanca, Spain

Headquartered in Seville, Spain, the multi-national energy and environmental services company Abengoa has announced the formal opening of its waste-to-biofuels (W2B) demonstration facility in Babilafuente, Salamanca, Spain. 07/02/2013

The Week's Action Items

Due 07/29/2013: Qualifications to BAB2E for Biosolids-to-Energy Facility

The Bay Area Biosolids to Energy Coalition (BAB2E, or the Coalition) has briefly reopened their Request for Qualifications (RFQ) timeline to pre-qualify additional firms for development of a biosolids-to-energy facility to serve wastewater treatment plants in the San Francisco Bay Area. 07/01/2013

Due 09/30/2013: Proposals to SJVAPCD for Alternative Fuels Infrastructure

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD, or District) has announced the release of its Request for Proposal (RFP) to accept proposed projects for alternative fuel infrastructure under its Public Benefit Grants Program (PBGP). 07/03/2013

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Featured Events:
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Recommended Reading:

"Waste-to-Energy, Second Edition: Technologies
and Project Implementation" by Marc J Rogoff and Francois Screve

Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Conversion Processes: Economic, Technical, and Renewable Comparisons by Gary C Young

"Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Conversion Processes: Economic, Technical, and Renewable Comparisons" by Gary C Young

 

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Teru Talk is an online publication of JDMT, Inc with the goal of opening the dialogue and providing current news and commentary on issues and successes associated with waste conversion to renewable energy, biofuels and other bio-based products for resource recovery.

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The Teru Talk Newsletter is published weekly or more or less frequently, primarily depending on what is going on in the world of waste conversion or ours.