Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
9, March 4,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Let's
talk about the idea of a
"Circular Economy", and
inside of this, a Waste
Management Hierarchy. We
can guess that this
Circular business means
whatever stuff we use needs
to find its way back into
use again at some future
date, and probably in some
other configuration.
Sometimes
there-and-back-again
routing is also called
Cradle to Cradle. New tire
to recapped tire to ground
up tire to road base; that
works OK, as does used tire
to "depolymerized" tire to
new fuel and chemicals.
Used tire to dump doesn't
make sense, and what about
used tire to furnace to
heat to electricity? Tires
burn Really
Hot!
Power's
great and much needed, but
what we lose with
combustion are the polymer
molecules. It takes a huge
amount of resources to make
new polymers, those complex
long-chain chemicals that
stick together well enough
to make New Tires, as well
as so many other useful
things. If we incinerate
tires, we get heat and
power, but if we just pull
'em apart and put those
molecules back into service
(recovery), we get a
whole lot of different
useful things.
But heat and
power is also
"recovery", we whine: it is
"energy recovery". OK,
let's get more specific.
With non-incineration
reprocessing, we get
Molecular Recovery. That's
where Waste Conversion
shines the
brightest.
The
Circular Economy concept
bets that Molecular
Recovery is a Higher and
Better Use for that waste
than just heat and power.
That works, unless what you
need most right then is
Power. The choice is
subjective and has to be
thought through case by
case, but let's say you
want to save Them Molecules
via Recovery, and go Cradle
to Cradle to Cradle to …
over and over until the
molecules themselves are
worn out.
Now,
let's get back to the
Hierarchy, or rather,
Hierarchies. A "waste
management hierarchy" is
supposed to set up a
pecking order of most
preferred to least
preferred use. "Highest and
Best Use" is that very
subjective and
case-specific determination
of what to DO with the
stuff we no longer need.
Most typically, this starts
with Reduce, then Reuse,
then Recycle. From there
on, this policy statement
gets a slightly different
interpretation for each
state, again at the US
national level, and
different again for the
European Union (EU) and the
rest of the
world.
The
Difference shows up in how,
if at all, the idea of
Recovery is wedged in
between Recycling above,
and Disposal, below. The US
EPA lumps everything into
one category called "Energy
Recovery" and says
Composting is equivalent to
Recycling. The EU places
Recycling above Recovery
with everything better than
Disposal, but makes no
distinction between strict
heat generation for power
recovery, and Conversion of
waste that preserves those
hard-to-create
Molecules.
If indeed
this concept of a Circular
Economy holds merit, if
Materials Management trumps
transformation by burning
to make to heat for power,
then Those in Power need to
re-think the Hierarchies
and slot in Molecular
Recovery. It's the
Molecules, baby
…
Hey
Rube!
This week's
news covers this topic nicely,
if in bits and pieces between
the US EPA's efforts on Green
Chemistry and new RFS Fuels
Pathways, to the UK's
interpretation of Energy from
Waste. a
cohesive strategy that
specifies Molecular Recovery is
sorely needed if Humans are
ever going to really make the
Waste Management part of our
economy
Circular.
The
Week's News
Karlsruhe
Institute & Air
Liquide Validate Stage II
High-Pressure Bioliq
Gasifier
Germany's Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT) has
announced that in cooperation
with its French technology
partner Aire Liquide Global
E&C Solutions, the Stage II
bioliq® high pressure entrained
flow gasifier has successfully
converted the liquid Stage I
intermediate product
BioliqSynCrude® into a tar-free
synthesis gas.
03/01/2013
DOE Hosts
Success Stories Webinar on
Renewable Energy
Parks
The US Department of Energy
(DOE), Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) has
announced that its Strategic
Programs Office is hosting a
free webinar titled "Community
Renewable Energy Success
Stories: Renewable Energy
Parks" on Tuesday, March 19,
2013 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
03/01/2013
Ameresco and
DOE Celebrate 1st Year of
Savanna River Bioenergy
Complex
Massachusetts based Ameresco
has announced that it joined
the US Department of Energy
(DOE) to celebrate the first
year of successful operation of
the Savannah River Site (SRS)
biomass cogeneration facility.
03/01/2013
Pratt &
Whitney Commissions Biomass
ORC System at Nechako
Lumber
Staff at Pratt & Whitney
(PW) has told Teru Talk that
the company's biomass driven
Turboden Organic Rankine Cycle
(ORC) installed at the Nechako
Lumber Mill in British Columbia
(BC) last month has now been
successfully commissioned.
03/01/2013
Cambi Is
Awarded Core Technology
Contract for Stavanger
Biogas
Plant
Norway's pre-treatment
specialist company
Cambi AS has announced
that it has won a contract for
the core technology in a new
biogas plant in the
municipality of Hå, outside
Stavanger on the south-west
coast of Norway.
03/01/2013
Ballard 175
kWe Fuel Cell System to be
Installed at Blue Lake
Biomass
Plant
Canadian Ballard Power Systems
has announced the sale of a 175
kilowatt electric capacity
(kWe) ClearGen distributed
generation fuel cell (FC)
system to the Blue Lake
Rancheria Tribe of Humboldt
County, California.
03/01/2013
DECC
Releases Non-Domestic
Budgeting Plan for Renewable
Heat
Incentive
The United Kingdom's (UK)
Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) has
announced release of the budget
scheme to fund the Renewable
Heat Incentive (RHI) for
commercial, industrial and
community organizations.
02/28/2013
DEFRA
Publishes Guide to the
Energy From Waste
Debate
The United Kingdom's (UK)
Department for Environment,
Food & Rural Affairs
(DEFRA) has announced the
release of "Energy from Waste -
a Guide to the Debate," as an
overview of the key
environmental, technical and
economic aspects of the
conversion of municipal solid
waste to the recovery of
energy.
02/28/2013
Piedmont
Biofuels Certified as RSB
Sustainable by 3rd Party
Assessment
SCS Global Services in
California has announced that
as an official third-party
assessment and auditing party,
it has now certified Piedmont
Biofuels in North Carolina as
sustainable under the
international protocols of the
Roundtable on Sustainable
Biofuels (RSB).
02/28/2013
USFS
Releases Early Draft EIS for
Four Forests Restoration
Initiative
The US Forest Service (USFS)
has announced public access to
elements of the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) for the Four Forests
Restoration Initiative (4FRI),
covering analyses pertinent to
the Coconino and Kaibab
National Forests.
02/27/2013
CH2M HILL
Project at VCS Denmark's
Ejby Mølle WWTP Wins WEX
Award
CH2M HILL has announced that
the Ejby Mølle Wastewater
Treatment Plant (EMWWTP) in
Odense, Denmark has won a Water
and Energy Exchange (WEX)
Global Innovation Award in the
water and energy category.
02/27/2013
Integro
Earth Fuels Receives SCRA
Funds for Bio-Coal
Demonstration
Facility
The South Carolina Rapid
Application (SCRA) program has
announced that its SCRA
Technology Ventures division
has provided initial funding to
Integro Earth Fuels for
development of a bio-coal
demonstration facility.
02/27/2013
EPA Issues
Final Rule for Additional
Renewable Fuel
Pathways
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has announced
issuance of a Final Rule
(Docket No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0542)
identifying additional fuel
pathways.
02/26/2013
Senator Lara
Introduces SB 804 in Support
of Waste Conversion
Facilities
California District 33's
Senator Richard Lara last week
introduced Senate Bill 804 to
(a) require the California
Energy Commission (CEC) to
include an analysis of the
opportunities for utilizing
waste conversion technologies
in its annual report of awards
made under its Public Interest
Research, Development, and
Demonstration Program, and (b)
make a statement of legislative
intent regarding the
development of waste conversion
technology facilities.
02/25/2013
Dynamic
Fuels Secures Roundtable on
Sustainable Fuels
Certification
The RSB Services Foundation,
US-based non-profit
certification arm of the
Roundtable on Sustainable Fuels
(RSB), has announced that
Oklahoma based Dynamic Fuels
LLC has earned RSB
certification.
02/25/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
04/26/2013: Proposals to CEC
for Energy Innovation Small
Grants
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
the release of Energy
Innovation Small Grant (EISG)
program solicitations,
providing up to $95,000 for
hardware projects and up to
$50,000 for modeling projects
that establishes the
feasibility of new, innovative
energy concepts.
03/01/2013
Due
04/30/2013: Nominations for
EPA Green Chemistry
Challenge
Awards
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is calling for
nominations for the 2013
Presidential Green Chemistry
Challenge Awards for companies
and institutions that can
design chemicals or a new
product that can help protect
public health and the
environment.
02/25/2013
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