Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
38, September 23,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Ahem ….
(queue fireworks and
trumpet fanfare): Teru Talk
is 3 Years Old!
Yep,
in the audacious
belief that folks are
as curious about Waste
Conversion as us,
three years ago this
month we built and
launched this web
service. We named it
after one of the
things we Teru-ly do
best: Talk. We began
in earnest, looking
around the Globe for
the people,
technologies, and
projects that take
just about any sort of
Waste and turn it into
some sort of Goods.
We've been posting
about 15 newsy items a
week for well over 150
weeks
(whew).
Why?
We've been trying to answer
two common, basic
questions: Isn't there
anything useful that I can
turn this particular kind
of waste crud into? And …
What sort of industrial
magic has been developed to
convert this waste
liability into a resource
asset?
We've
been tracking the entire
"value chain" from
feedstock to end product,
sussing out and reporting
on all forms of Waste
Conversion like microbial,
thermal, and chemical
processes. We've addressed
reforming and refining that
has to happen to make what
we recover into Goods
useful and valuable to the
Market. We post on the
smart folks in the
institutions that figure
out the underlying ideas,
the companies young and old
that risk so much, trying
to get a process to
Commercial status, the
financial wizards that have
the bucks and the brains to
back 'em up. We rip into on
the Agencies at all levels
that put the brackets, good
or bad, on "Clean, compared
to what?" We give a shout
out to the associations and
foundations that act as
Societal Monitors, urging
us to try a bit harder to
make this a clean,
efficient, livable
world.
When you
constantly review as much
Incoming Stuff as we do,
you recognize trends in the
global progress of Waste
Conversion. Teru Talk is
here to tell you, this
business is working.
Everywhere we turn we see
examples of Resource
Sanity, we hear about the
Circular Economy and how we
need to see discards as
resources, how we all
should Claim our own Waste.
People that still have
oodles of money are also
looking and listening, and
Cash is starting to flow.
This financial picture
isn't as flush as in the
first few years following
Y2K; instead there is a
more cautious and sensible
approach to investment. But
investments are indeed
being made in waste
conversion technology
development and
infrastructure deployment.
Folks are even willing to
openly use the Buzz Words
in polite conversation, no
longer relegating terms
like Biofuel and
Bioproducts, Waste-sourced
Energy and such to the back
rooms and
alleyways.
As we enter this first week
of Fall 2013, we may not be
There yet, but we're on our
way. And … Teru Talk is
happy to be part of the
Party.
Hey
Rube!
Everybody agrees that Biomass
is a renewable resource, that
Bio-power equals Renewable
Energy, and that working small
and local makes a lot of sense.
Watch closely now out here in
California, as that idea is put
to the test: Senate Bill 1122
set aside three big Buckets to
be filled by our investor-owned
utilities with small-scale
bioenergy power purchase
agreements. Soon, the Public
Utilities Commission will kick
off a formal Rulemaking to
implement the bill. We'll be
paying close attention and
making our thoughts known; we
hope you will
too.
This Week's Top Story
Airgas
Carbonic Secures Long-Term
CO2 Supply from Fox River
Valley
Ethanol
Airgas, Inc has announced that
its subsidiary, Airgas
Carbonic, has signed a
long-term agreement for the
supply of liquid carbon dioxide
(CO2) from Fox River Valley
Ethanol’s recently acquired
plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
09/18/2013
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.
LanzaTech
Awarded $4MM to Convert
Waste Methane into Low
Carbon
Fuels
LanzaTech announced that it has
been awarded a $4 million grant
through the US Department of
Energy Advanced Research
Projects Agency's (ARPA-E)
Reducing Emissions Using
Methanotrophic Organisms for
Transportation Energy (REMOTE)
Program.
09/22/2013
RSB Releases
White Paper on
'Certification of Biofuels
from
Waste'
The Roundtable on Sustainable
Biomaterials (RSB) Services
Foundation has released a white
paper on 'Certification of
Biofuels from Waste: The RSB
Approach.'
09/22/2013
BioNitrogen
Corporation Granted US
Patent for Biomass-to-Urea
Technology
Florida Based BioNitrogen
Corporation has announced that
the patent for its
biomass-to-urea technology has
been approved by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office.
09/22/2013
NIB and
Sparbanken Nord Partner for
Environmental Investments in
Sweden
Nordic Investment Bank (NIB)
has announced a new loan
facility with Sparbanken Nord
for onlending to small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
and for environmental
investments in northern Sweden.
09/21/2013
New Grant
Funding Announced for UK
Heating and Cooling
Networks
The United Kingdom (UK)
Department of Energy &
Climate Change (DECC) has
announced a new £6 million
grant funding program to help
Local Authorities (LAs) in
England and Wales develop new
heating and cooling networks
and expand existing networks.
09/21/2013
Coskata
Awarded ARPA-E Funds for
Activated Methane to Butanol
Research
Illinois based Coskata Inc has
announced its selection to
negotiate an award under the US
Department of Energy Advanced
Research Projects Agency's
(ARPA-E) Reducing Emissions
Using Methanotrophic Organisms
for Transportation Energy
(REMOTE) Program.
09/20/2013
Novozymes
and Raizen Collaborate on
Cellulosic Ethanol from Crop
Waste
Denmark
headquartered Novozymes has
announced its agreement with
Brazil based Raizen Energia S/A
to collaborate on production of
cellulosic ethanol from
sugarcane bagasse and straw.
09/20/2013
Incbio
Contracts with Biokast to
Supply Biodiesel Plant in
North
Africa
Portugal based Incbio has
announced signing a contract
with Biokast Energy S.A, to
supply an 8,000MT per year
biodiesel plant to be installed
in Tunis, Tunisia, North
Africa.
09/17/2013
Cool
Planet Selects URS to
Engineer 1st Commercial
Biorefinery in
Louisiana
California based Cool
Planet Energy Systems has
announced its selection of URS
Corporation for engineering
design of its first commercial
biorefinery to be constructed
in Louisiana.
09/17/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
10/10/2013: NOI to Propose
to SCE on Renewable &
Alternative CHP
RFO
Southern California
Edison (SCE) has issued its
2013 Renewable &
Alternative Power - Combined
Heat and Power (CHP) Request
for Offer ( RFO) to solicit
Offers from owners and
operators of CHP Facilities and
Utility Prescheduled Facilities
("UPF").
09/17/2013
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