Volume III, Issue
43, October 28,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Just
in time for All Hallows
Eve: a tale of Meat and
Monsters -
microscopic
beasties, or
"microbes." We are what
we eat: we're Meat too,
and a lot of
microbes are
particularly good at
digesting meat,
whether it is stuff
left after dinner, or
the very Stuff that you
and I are made of.
Those that take a
special liking to
eating critters
including us Humans are
often called Pathogenic
Microorganisms:
microbes that cause
disease in humans or
other
animals.
Unfortunately,
Monster Microbes can
escape even our best
control efforts, as
we've recently
witnessed for a certain
chicken processor. To
prevent the rampant
spread of those
beasties and the
diseases they inflict,
meat scraps get sent to
"renderers" who apply
heat to cook out the
useful grease and in
the process, kill all
those nasty microbes.
If you have ever been
around a Rendering
plant, you won't soon
forget the experience:
let's just say, it's
not an olfactory treat.
Nasty but necessary:
there are laws that
require commercial meat
discards go to
renderers, and
naturally, that
industry is protective
of the laws that keep
their doors
open.
Now
to the problem: we want
to turn food waste and
food processing
residuals into goods,
instead of counting
them as a liability and
adding them to the
local landfill. We can
scrape those restaurant
plates, pull the older
packages off the market
shelf, and push the
butcher's trimmings off
into a bucket. We can
do this! (How we gonna
do this?). I
know! Let's build
Digesters and
Composters to convert
this organic mélange
into biogas and
fertilizer.
Nope,
says California's Food
and Ag agency: all that
stuff has to be cooked
and all those microbe
beasties killed dead.
If there are any
really
pathogenic
microorganisms growing
in that feedstock, we
stand a good chance of
inadvertently making a
whole armada of nasties
through improper
handling. Funny thing:
in California, this is
one of the very few
instances where
thermal waste
conversion technologies
are the mandated
method. But that's just
one more example of how
the state can't seem to
remain "feedstock
specific, technology
neutral" like its
Governor has
requested.
If a
microbe can't cause
disease, it is not
pathogenic. Can
Anaerobic Digestion and
similar controlled
microbial processes
convert food waste that
contains meat while
preventing the spread
of diseases caused by
meat-eating pathogenic
organisms? Well, yeah,
if done right and
tested so you are sure.
We just have to figure
out how to do this
right.
Renderers
can still degrease dead
cows; we have a much,
much bigger problem at
hand. Humans will
continue to dump food
waste and ag residues
into landfills, and
that stuff will
continue to have a
sizable Meat fraction.
Carefully designed and
operated microbial
processing can overcome
Pathogenicity. Was it
the intent of Law to
dictate which type of
processing we use to
accomplish clean and
safe conversion?
Probably not: it is
time we went back the
law books and see what
they really
say.
Hey
Rube!
With the Farm Bill
un-authorized, there is
little enough recourse
for support from the US
Department of Ag - but
despite the lack of
broader programs, USDA
has once again opened
the coffers for
biorefinery loans.
Advanced Biofuel
Project loan
applications are due
January 30,
2014.
This
Week's Top Story
Farmers
Delivering Biomass
for POET-DSM's
Project LIBERTY 2014
Opening
POET
has announced that
farmers are harvesting
corn crop residuals for
the 2013 season and
delivering cob bales
for the 2014 opening of
Project LIBERTY,
POET-DSM Advanced
Biofuels, LLC's 20
million-gallon-per-year
cellulosic ethanol
plant.
10/25/2013
The
Week's News
NOTE:
If you
are using IE10 and our
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and all will be
fine.
EIA
Study: Waste Fuels
are a Significant
Energy Source for US
Manufacturers
Waste fuel
accounted for 29% of
U.S. manufacturing fuel
use in 2010, according
to the US Energy
Information
Administration's (EIA)
latest Manufacturing
Energy Consumption
Survey (MECS).
10/25/2013
FAME
Approves $25MM Loan
Guarantee for Maine
Torrefied Wood
Plant
The
Associated Press and
local news report that
the Finance Authority
of Maine (FAME) voted
8-5 last week to
approve a $25 million
bond for a biomass
based torrefied wood
pellet plant in
Millinocket, Maine.
10/25/2013
The
Campbell Group to
Manage 4FRI Contract
Forest Restoration
Operations
Good Earth
Power (GEP) has
announced the
appointment of The
Campbell Group as the
forest management
company that will
implement GEP’s Four
Forest Restoration
Initiative (4FRI)
stewardship contract in
Northern Arizona.
10/25/2013
Viridor
Starts Construction
on Peterborough
Energy from Waste
Facility
The United
Kingdom's Peterborough
City Council and
Viridor marked
the start of
the construction of the
City’s Energy from
Waste facility
yesterday with a formal
ground breaking
ceremony.
10/24/2013
Estover
Energy Receives
Planning Approval
for South East
England CHP
Plant
United
Kingdom (UK) based
Estover Energy, Ltd has
announced receipt of
planning approval from
the Dover District
Council for its
proposal to develop a
£65 million biomass
Combined Heat and Power
(CHP) plant in the
South East of England.
10/24/2013
Novus Plans
Anaerobic Digestion
Facility at the Port
of Morrow,
Oregon
Novus
Pacific, LLC, a
subsidiary of Novus
Energy LLC, has
submitted an
application to the
Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality
(DEQ) for an Anaerobic
Digestion Composting
Solid Waste Permit to
operate a facility at
the Port of Morrow.
10/24/2013
Vermont's
Norwich University
Plans Celebration of
New Biomass Heating
Plant
Vermont's
Norwich University has
announced that its new
$6.2 million biomass
heating plant began
operating last week,
and the celebration
will be held this
Friday, October 25th,
with limited guest
tours and a ribbon
cutting ceremony at
5:30 pm.
10/23/2013
Maverick
Biofuels Awarded
Three US Patents for
Methanol to
Mixed-Alcohols
Maverick
Biofuels has announced
that it has been
awarded three US
patents for producing a
mixed-alcohol fuel from
synthesis gas (syngas)
by means of a methanol
intermediate.
10/23/2013
KiOR
Secures Equity
Financing to Start
Construction on
Columbus II
Project
Texas based KiOR, Inc
has announced execution
of $100 million in
committed equity
financing in two
separate private
placement transactions,
completing the
anticipated financing
needed for the
company's recently
announced expansion of
production capacity at
its Columbus Project.
10/22/2013
California
Center Selected To
Lead US DOE Regional
Clean Energy
Partnership
The
California Center for
Sustainable Energy
(CCSE) will receive
$2.2 million over four
years from the US
Department of Energy
(DOE) to provide
support and technical
assistance throughout
California, Nevada, and
Hawaii.
10/22/2013
Tesco Is
First Major UK
Retailer to Publish
Food Waste
Figures
United
Kingdom based food
retailer Tesco PLC has
announced new food
waste figures for its
operations and supply
chain, alongside
figures that show 68
per cent of bagged
salad is wasted and 35
per cent of this waste
occurs in the home.
10/22/2013
Clariant
Supplies CO2-SNG
Catalyst for 1st
Commercial
'Power-to-Gas'
Plant
Switzerland
based Clariant
International Ltd has
announced that it has
supplied a proprietary
developed CO2-SNG
catalyst (waste carbon
dioxide emissions to
synthetic natural gas)
for the methanation
unit of Audi’s new
power-to-gas facility
in Werlte, Germany.
10/22/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
01/30/2014:
Applications for
USDA Loans for
Advanced Biofuels
Projects
The US
Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has
announced the
availability of $181
million to develop
commercial-scale
biorefineries or
retrofit existing
facilities with
appropriate technology
to develop advanced
biofuels.
10/24/2013
