Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue
2, January 13,
2014
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Be
careful picking at loose
threads; you never know
which one will unravel the
whole shebang. When we
select one term common to
the overall regulatory
framework to change, it is
imperative that we consider
every place that one change
will have an impact.
Changing one part is bound
to produce a ripple effect
throughout the whole
mess.
This
week, we've been agonizing
over proposed California
Senate Bill (SB) 498 in its
current form, another waste
conversion bill sponsored
by one of SoCal's state
legislative
representatives, Senator
Lara. The proposed SB 498
language would amend
Section 40106 of
California's Public
Resources Code (PRC) by
expanding the legal
definition of one crucial
term, "Biomass Conversion."
Most of 40106 is left alone
for now. After umpteen
revisions and
simplifications, two
primary changes are
proposed in the current
version; the first is a
conciliatory gesture
designed to at least claim
some minor credit
for landfill diversion,
while the second tries to
heal all wounds.
First, SB
498 proposes to lump the
use of ALL conversion
technology into this
"Biomass Conversion"
categorical redefinition.
The result is that all
forms of clean conversion
technology would now be
reduced to the level of
"combustion" or
"transformation" in the
law, and falling under the
10% limitation for
landfill reduction credit.
Proponents have fought long
and hard to receive
landfill diversion credits
for non-combustive thermal
waste conversion. With 498,
we get just that, but
strictly limited to the
same ridiculously low 10%
diversion credit that has
ham-strung the big biomass
burners for so
long.
The
second proposed change
points to why this
limitation is illogical and
simply wrong. PRC 40106
provides a short list of
feedstock types that have
been identified as
fuel for biomass
combustion. SB 498 expands
the definition of Biomass
Conversion without also
expanding and updating the
list of applicable biomass
feedstock. We are left to
wonder whether processing
biomass types not on
the list such as food waste
or more broadly,
"post-recycling MSW
residuals" will also be
considered biomass
conversion with access
to the limited diversion
credits.
A new
sentence would be tagged
onto the end of 40106: "For
the purposes of this
section, “conversion
technology” means a method
capable of converting
biomass into marketable
products and fuels through
a noncombustion thermal,
chemical, or biological
process." Is anaerobic
digestion, a biological
process, now a biomass
conversion technology under
this section?
SB 498
gets this one right:
conversion is
intended to recover
usable materials from
waste-sourced detritus and
prepare them for return to
the marketplace, consistent
with the state's legal
definition of Recycling.
Yet if indeed Conversion
equates to Recycling, what
possible excuse can there
be for not crediting
all of the amount
converted as having been
deferred from landfill
disposal?
Hey
Rube!
Most countries define terms to
their own benefit, not their
detriment. As an example: in
Singapore, everything
goes to a set of four
incinerators for production of
heat and power - and with that
"conversion", the country is
able to claim that 60% of the
7.3 million tonnes per year of
trash they generate nationally
is "Recycled"; the remaining
40% is rendered to
ash.
This Week's Top Story
BDI
Contracts to Expand
Netherlands Multi-Waste
Feedstock BioDiesel
Plant
Austria based BDI - BioEnergy
International AG has announced
a EUR 47 million contract with
Biodiesel Amsterdam (subsidiary
of Simadan Holding) for
expansion of a Multi-Feedstock
Biodiesel Plant in the Port of
Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
01/09/2014
The
Week's News
Construction
of Viridor's Anaerobic
Digestion Plant in Somerset
Is
Complete
Construction of Viridor’s £10
million anaerobic digestion
plant at Walpole Landfill near
Bridgwater, Somerset in the
United Kingdom is substantially
complete, and is expected to be
fully operational in the coming
weeks.
01/10/2014
California
SB 498 Redefining Biomass
Conversion Referred to
Committee
California Senate Bill (SB) 498
- Solid Waste: Biomass
Conversion was introduced by
Senator Ricardo Lara (D) on
February 21, 2013, to revise
the definition of "biomass
conversion" under the
California Integrated Waste
Management Act.
01/10/2014
Now
Accepting Applications for
California Woody Biomass to
Energy
Projects
The Watershed Research and
Training Center (WRTC) has
announced that it is now
accepting applications for
assistance to California
organizations, groups, and
communities for development of
wood energy projects.
01/09/2014
Konica
Minolta's Singapore Beach
Cleanup Waste Is Converted
to
Energy
Konica Minolta's employees and
their families in Singapore
helped clean trash from the
eastern shoreline last month as
part of the country's National
Environmental Agency's (NEA)
Seashore Life Programme.
01/08/2014
NCSU
Researchers Develop Simple
Method to Remove Lignin from
Biomass
North Carolina State University
(NCSU) has announced that its
researchers have developed a
simple, effective, and
relatively inexpensive
technique for removing lignin
from the plant material used to
make biofuels, which may drive
down the cost of biofuel
production.
01/08/2014
Air Products
to Produce Food-Grade Liquid
CO2 at Wisconsin Ethanol
Plant
Pennsylvania based Air Products
and Chemicals, Inc has
announced that it will operate
a facility to produce 250 tons
per day (tpd) of liquid CO2 at
Big River Resources’
established ethanol plant in
Boyceville, Wisconsin under a
long-term agreement.
01/07/2014
Metso Spins
Off Energy, Pulp, and Paper
Business as Valmet
Corporation
Finnish based Metso Corporation
has announced completion of a
partial demerger, transferring
all business related to the
company's pulp, paper, and
power business into a new
entity, Valmet Corporation.
01/07/2014
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