Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
35, September 3,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
It's hard
to talk trash when the
world is either on fire,
under fire, or both. But
hey, trash is the Lowest
Common Denominator -
whatever our status,
wherever we live, the truth
prevails: Humans Waste.
Whatever the headlines
read, wherever the cameras
roll, we can see broken
stuff, discarded stuff,
wasted stuff. After all the
smoke clears, the damage
reports are filed and the
local folks try to resume
their lives, along comes
the dozer and another hole
gets
filled.
At the
top of Everybody's Official
Waste Management Hierarchy
is "Reduce Waste": just
stop making so much trash
in the first place. That's
not exactly anybody's
priority, however, when the
bombs are falling, or the
forests are burning. But
the same basic plea
applies: let's try not to
destroy and discard so much
stuff in the first place,
and see if maybe we can
figure out how NOT to waste
the planet's resources so
darn fast. Next on that
Hierarchy is "Reuse", just
as tough to do with broken
concrete and shattered
glass as for burnt forest
snags and seared soil.
Building roads and levees
lets us Recycle rubble;
nature has its own way for
Recycling forest mineral
ash, after a few decades,
but there's not much humans
can do to recycle favorite
stretches of old growth
trees once they are reduced
to smoldering ash. With
both these kinds of Waste,
about all we can do is
plant new trees, and build
new communities.
Perhaps
Trash can help. There's
this idea that, like cell
phones and laptop
computers, the surge toward
distributed energy
self-sufficiency will
happen almost overnight.
That scares the crud out of
the entrenched fuel and
utility companies, and
rightly so. There probably
is not enough time left for
those dinosaurs to actually
own the emerging
technologies before their
customers make their own
electricity, heat, and
fuel. You have to ask
however, just what there
could possibly be around us
that is abundant enough and
cheap enough to run
everything, for everyone.
Well, it won't be just one
thing: there's sun for
daytime generation, and
windy days spin turbines.
Algae grow fast and poop
out fuel oil; microbes can
make fuel out of thin
(smoggy) air. And … trash
is
everywhere.
We yammer
on about the Circular
Economy, when really what
we are talking about is the
Circle of Life. Humans have
always redirected the path
of that bigger cycle; we
just can accomplish things
a lot faster these days.
While technology certainly
allows faster and more
cost-effective
self-destruction,
technology can and does
provide new ways to push
this human race back within
the boundaries of common
sense. Of all the
capabilities now at our
"disposal", conversion of
the stuff we throw away
back into the stuff we need
should rank high on
everyone's global Circle of
Life Hierarchy.
Hey
Rube!
The Rim Fire which extends into
the western reaches of Yosemite
National Park has qualified as
California's fourth largest
wildfire, having scorched 230
thousand acres and still
growing. The interagency
"all-risk" incident information
service InciWeb's
Rim Fire report for
today shows that the blaze
has consumed the entire
southern shore of Hetch
Hetchy Reservoir and
continues to move into the
Park. With 60% contained,
the current date estimated
for full containment is
given as September 20th. A
new US Forest Service
article, The Best
Defense - Restoration of the
Land explains that
"properly managed forests –
those free of underbrush and
ladder fuels – serve as the
best defense against the
ravaging effects of
wildfire, especially in an
era of longer and more
severe fire seasons
associated with climate
change."
Upcoming Event
Information
The latest agenda
for the 8th annual
California
Bioresources Alliance
Symposium: A Call to
Action has just been
released. The symposium will
take place on September
18-19 at the Cal/EPA
Building in Sacramento, and
will focus on recent
California legislation
addressing bioresources and
the Bioenergy Action Plan,
ways to address biogas
challenges faced by dairies,
wastewater plants, and
forestry products residuals
handlers, facility siting
issues, and use of
bioresources for mine
reclamation. Conference
attendees will also tour the
Sacramento Regional County
Sanitation District’s
Biosolids
Recycling Facility. Each
year, the Sacramento
Regional Wastewater
Treatment Plant processes
26,000 dry tons of
biosolids, 30 percent of
which is beneficially
recycled at the
BRF.
This Week's Top Story
Australian
$9MM Pilot Plant to Turn
Waste Carbon Emissions into
Bricks
The Priority Research Centre
for Energy at Australia's
University of Newcastle has
announced it will build a pilot
plant for mineral carbonation
to capture
the waste carbon in industrial
emissions for
"geosequestration" as a solid
carbonate rock.
08/29/2013
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.
Canadian
Model Forest Network
Releases Community Bioenergy
Guide
The Canadian Model Forest
Network (CMFN) has released a
guide to community bioenergy
designed to help local
community leaders, businesses,
and non-profit associations
assess energy options of using
woody biomass.
09/02/2013
Neste Oil
and Raisioagro Research Use
of Straw for Biofuel
Feedstock
Neste Oil has announced a
partnership with international
agricultural commodities trader
Raisioagro to assess the
potential for use of straw as
feedstock for their NExBTL
biofuel.
09/02/2013
Canadian
Plastics Association
Sponsors Marine Waste
Plastics-to-Fuel
Project
The Canadian Plastics Industry
Association (CPIA) has
announced sponsorship of the
British Columbia based Upcycle
the Gyres Society (UpGyres, or
UGS) for its proof of concept
pilot project to collect
ocean-borne waste plastic and
convert it to clean fuel.
08/29/2013.
RENAC TREE
Project to Hold Renewable
Energy Training for African
Leaders
The German company Renewables
Academy (RENAC) has announced
its third major project for
building international
renewable energy development
capacity, part of the Transfer
Renewable Energy &
Efficiency (TREE) project, to
expand upon training of African
decision makers in use of
renewable energy.
08/29/2013
BioNitrogen
Gets Hardee County Planning
Approval for Biomass-to-Urea
Plant
Florida-based BioNitrogen
Holdings Corporation has
received unanimous approval
from the Hardee County Planning
and Zoning Commission for the
company's biomass-to-urea
fertilizer production plant,
one year after signing the
crucial feedstock supply
agreement.
08/29/2013
Covanta
Secures 20-Year New York
City MSW Supply Contract for
EfW
New Jersey headquartered
Covanta Energy has announced a
new 20-year term municipal
solid waste (MSW) supply
contract with New York City
Department of Sanitation with
two 5-year extension options
for the City.
08/29/2013
Oregon EQC
Approves Final Conversion
Technology and AD
Rules
The Oregon Environmental
Quality Council (EQC)
unanimously approved the final
Conversion Technology Rules
(agenda item H) during last
week's regular meeting,
accepting numerous changes
detailed in the staff report
and addendum presented by the
Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ).
08/27/2013
Marion City
Council in Iowa Approves
Fiberight's MSW Conversion
Facility
During its August 22, 2013
meeting, the City Council of
Marion, Iowa, approved a
Resource Recovery Agreement
(Resolution 23332), which gives
Fiberight, LLC permission to
build a solid waste recycling
facility in an industrial area
behind the City’s Public
Services Center.
08/27/2013
Cool
Planet's 1st 10MM Gallon
Biorefinery Will Be Located
in
Louisiana
California based Cool Planet
Energy Systems has announced
selection of Alexandria,
Louisiana as the location for
the company's first showcase
biorefinery.
08/26/2013
NPG Energy
Selects Weltech Biopower for
2.4MWe Biogas Plant in
Belgium
Germany based Weltech Biopower
has announced that the Belgian
investor and project developer
NPG Energy has selected Weltech
to develop a 2.4 megawatt (MWe)
biogas plant in the Limburg
District of Belgium.
08/26/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
09/19/2013: Comments to
California ARB on Alt Diesel
Regulations
The staff of the California Air
Resources Board (ARB) has
announced the third public
workshop for Thursday,
September 5 2013 to explore the
upcoming rulemaking on
alternative diesel fuels (ADF).
08/26/2013
Due
10/11/2013: Expression of
Interest for Mumbai MSW
Processing &
Disposal
The Municipal Corporation for
Greater Mumbai (MCGM), India,
has issued a global tender
seeking Expressions of Interest
for development of a "Municipal
Solid Waste (MSW) Processing
& Disposal Facility."
08/31/2013
Due
10/25/2013: Applications to
CEC for Alt Fuels and
Technology
Centers
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) is requesting
proposals to develop "new
centers or expand existing
centers for alternative fuels
and advanced vehicle
technology."
08/27/2013
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