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Teru Talk News

Teru Talk Newsletter

Volume III, Issue 47, November 25, 2013 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "TerĂº")  

Teru's Trash Talk

Happy Thanksgiving! It's been a light news week here in Teru Land - giving us time to ponder some of the larger mysteries of Life. Thanksgiving, for example, where friends, family, cranberry sauce, and a gazillion cooked turkeys help us turn the corner into Winter, bringing on the food comas and an abundance of big bird carcasses. Then there's the build-up to Black Friday (which is apparently starting on Thursday this year), when Packaging is King and kids really start to put on the pressure to Buy all those shiny baubles advertised every twelve minutes on every TV channel. But enough holiday frivolity: let's get serious.

Let's consider Buzz Words - those interesting and catchy terms that constantly buzz around each industry, our Waste Conversion sector not to be excluded. Buzz words are the "packaging" we use to indicate what's inside of a concept so we don't have to bother to actually look inside, and they can be as alluring and deceptive as the brightly colored plastic layered about the latest (also plastic) toy.

Here's a buzz phrase that's been a pet peeve of mine, of late: "Emerging Technologies." Emerging from what, and into what? Certainly not from pre-commercial to commercial status; most of these methods have long since entered the commercial marketplace. There will always be Newbies just around the corner, but for most of the waste conversion tools themselves, these old labels simply no long apply. Perhaps they are emerging into regional utilization, but if so, whose fault is that? If systems like gasification and anaerobic digestion are "emerging" into anything, it is primarily into society's collective consciousness.

This is school yard politics: every time you show up for another game of ball with a different crowd, you get labeled the "new kid on the block." If you get a chance to play, you can show 'em what you've got - but the label is intended to "put you in your place" as much as anything. Same goes for systems, methods, and technologies that our neighborhood has not yet let through the Commercial gate: as long as the Big Kids hold the court, that new talent stays benched. And the simplest way to do that is with the labels the entrenched crew assigns to in-coming threats to the Status Quo. And the rest of us willingly play along.

Ah, well. Settle back into the warmly bundled, family-friendly Holiday Season. Indeed, enjoy whatever version of Thanksgiving suits you. Take a deep, cleansing breath - and look toward the New Year with hope that, among other things, our economic doldrums will be disrupted by emerging Waste Conversion Sanity. And remember to look inside the packaging.

Hey Rube!

It's not for lack of Technologies that we continue to throw resources away. It isn't even for lack of Money, although that never makes things easier. Adopting a new paradigm means changing the way we think, and making sure our Politicians and Agencies hear the new anthem.

This Week's Top Story

Cleveland Browns, FirstEnergy Stadium to Showcase Food Waste Recycling

The Cleveland Browns and FirstEnergy Stadium will showcase a new system that recycles stadium food waste into renewable energy and fertilizer sources, diverting 35 tons of food waste from landfills annually. 11/22/2013

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.

 

EWI's Waste Tire Facility Completes Landmark Continuous 4-Day Run

Canadian company Environmental Waste International, Inc (EWI) has announced successful completion of a continuous four-day (100 hour) run of its TR-900 waste tire recycling facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, doubling the previous record announced in June. 11/22/2013

Stirling Engine Developer Qnergy Acquires US-based Infinia Corporation

Israel based Qnergy Ltd and its US affiliate have announced that they acquired the assets of US-based Infinia Corporation Inc located in Ogden, Utah. 11/22/2013

EDF Renewable and Santee Cooper Dedicate the Pinelands Biomass Project

California based EDF Renewable Energy and South Carolina utility Santee Cooper have ust announced today's dedication of the Pinelands Biomass Project, which consists of two nominal 17.8 megawatt (MW) generating facilities located in Allendale and Dorchester Counties in South Carolina. 11/21/2013

UC Riverside Introduces System that Uses Steam to Turn Waste into Fuel

The University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) Bourns College of Engineering held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to announce a new steam hydrogasification reactor system. 11/20/2013

Global Bioenergies Secures EUR 5.7MM Grant for 2nd Pilot Plant in Germany

France based Global Bioenergies SA has announced that its German subsidiary, Global Bioenergies GmbH, has just been awarded a EUR 5.7 million grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). 11/20/2013

The Week's Action Items

Due 12/06/2013: Ideas to CEC for Natural, Renewable Gas Research Initiatives

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is requesting ideas for natural gas research initiatives in the following areas: energy efficiency, renewable energy, natural gas infrastructure, natural gas related environmental research, and natural gas related transportation research. 11/22/2013

Due 01/10/2014: Proposals to PNM for Renewable Energy Resources

PNM, a subsidiary of PNM Resources and New Mexico’s largest electric utility, has issued a request for proposals (RFP) today for renewable energy and/or accompanying renewable energy certificates (RECs) totaling 150,000 megawatt-hours produced and delivered to customers in 2016. 11/20/2013

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Recommended Reading:

Waste to energy conversion technology
Waste to energy conversion technology (Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy 2013)

 
 

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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.