Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue
22, June 2,
2014
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
The Buzz
Word for the Day is
Bio-Residuals: that
left-over plant and animal
"waste" we generate with
everything we do,
everywhere. The Farmer cuts
the grain, and turns most
of the straw back into the
soil to keep it healthy.
But there's more straw than
the dirt needs:
Bio-Residuals, destined to
be burnt, or buried, or
blown away. The Farmer
picks tomatoes, and only
the best go to market.
Isn't that what the
advertisements claim: we
only sell the Best of the
Best? The Rest are
Bio-Residuals: half of the
"biomass" harvested never
makes it to
market.
But what
about that market? Stand
around in the Produce
section of your local store
and watch the constant
culling that goes on. New
broccoli arrives in a waxed
cardboard box; old broccoli
goes out to the dumpster.
Let's figure that about a
ton a day conservatively of
the food stuff that makes
it to your own
supermarket's shelves will
end up being shuffled off
to the dump. You can bet we
pay for those
Bio-Residuals; part of the
cost of every apple we
select has to cover the
apples we leave behind, or
that market isn't long in
business. We pay to waste
our resources.
You spot
a local restaurant owner in
line while you buy your
apples: she's got an arm
load of fresh baguettes
from the store's bakery.
You remember how nice it is
to eat at that
establishment and show up
for the dinner hour: mmmm,
fresh baguettes! That's
because yesterday's bread
went out when the new
loaves came in. Tonight's
baguette that doesn't get
eaten will go out with the
scraps of kale you thought
were only for decoration,
along with that entire
serving of fresh steamed
broccoli the little brat at
the next table refused to
even taste.
We all
see it happening every day.
Now, we hear that if we can
only gather it up
effectively, there are cool
tools to turn that goop
into biogas and fertilizer,
turn those Bio-Residuals
back into Money. Here's an
honest question: how can we
intercept Bio-Residuals
before that rich organic
glop is lost forever? Folks
around the world right now
are figuring out what kind
of rollie-cart with a
snap-down lid they need to
have at the ready in the
restaurant kitchens, what
sort of de-packaging gismo
can strip the plastic off
that rejected package of
tofu, how to train
ourselves and our kitchen
staff not to dump the
bleach and broken glass in
with the carrot tops and
egg shells. Remember: we've
got three, maybe four days
before the Wild Microbes
win this round, or before
those rotting resources are
under another layer of fill
at the local "sanitary
disposal site".
When we
think of Bio-Residuals, we
don't spend much time
figuring out just how much
is being generated, or how
in the world we could
gather it up and make
something good out of it.
People with food readily
available to eat pay little
attention to the farmer's
dilemma, and seldom think
of the food they waste at
all. Humans are Humans, and
Waste Happens. We just have
to make ourselves spend
more time figuring out how
to count, collect, and
convert Bio-Residuals back
into fresh resources, and
send them for another spin
on the wheel.
Hey
Rube!
There's lots going on
concerning Bio-Residuals right
now, including the annual
re-think forum tomorrow
organized by EPA9 and UC Davis
in Northern California, new
webinars on various aspects of
organics utilization, and a new
European guide to managing and
reducing food waste. Don't
forget the calls for abstracts
and requests for renewable
energy offers. Look it all
over, pick your targets and get
busy. Whistle if you need a
hand; there are lots of us more
than ready to
help.
This Week's Top Story
St1 Biofuels
Is Building Waste-Based
Ethanol Production Plant in
Sweden
Finland
based St1 Biofuels Oy has
announced that it will
deliver an Etanolix®
plant producing
waste-based bioethanol to
North European Oil Trade
Oy in Gothenburg, Sweden.
05/27/2014
The
Week's News
US DOE
Issues Funding NOI for Clean
Energy Projects on Tribal
Lands
The US
Department of Energy
(DOE) Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable
Energy (EERE) has
released a Notice of
Intent (NOI) to issue a
Funding Opportunity
Announcement (FOA)
entitled “Deployment of
Clean Energy and Energy
Efficiency Projects on
Indian Lands.”
05/31/2014
UNEP, FAO,
and WRAP Release Food Waste
Prevention Guidance
Tool
The
United Nations
Environment Programme
(UNEP) and Food and
Agriculture Organization
(FAO) have collaborated
with the United Kingdom’s
(UK) Waste & Resource
Action Programme (WRAP)
in the release of new
on-line guidance for
designing effective food
waste prevention
programs.
05/31/2014
UC to Host
Webinar on Biomass-Fuelled
District Heating in
Belgium
The
University of
California's Woody
Biomass Utilization Group
will host a webinar on
Tuesday, June 3, 2014 on
biomass-fuelled district
heating systems in
Belgium.
05/30/2014
VTT Thesis
Explores More Efficient
Straw and Wood Conversion to
Chemicals
The
physical science and
technology service
Phys.Org reports that the
VTT Technical Research
Centre of Finland has
released "Development of
pretreatment technology
and enzymatic hydrolysis
for biorefineries," a
thesis exploring more
efficient methods of
agricultural residue
conversion.
05/30/2014
Construction
Finally Starting on Mercia
EnviRecover EfW Facility in
UK
Switzerland
based Hitachi Zosen Inova
AG has announced that it
has been selected as the
Engineering, Procurement,
and Construction
Contractor for the
turnkey delivery of the
Mercia EnviRecover Energy
from Waste facility (EfW)
at the Hartlebury Trading
Estate, near
Kidderminster, England.
05/30/2014
Patriot
Renewable Fuels Hires
Leifmark to Design Inbicon
Biomass
Biorefinery
Illinois
based Patriot Renewable
Fuels, LLC and Leifmark,
LLC have announced that
Leifmark has been
authorized to create a
custom Project
Definition, the first
step of a plan for
co-locating an Inbicon
Biomass Refinery on the
site of Patriot’s 130
million gallon per year
grain-ethanol plant in
Annawan, Illinois.
05/29/2014
Vertrolysis'
Vertro Biochar Receives IBI
Certification
The
International Biochar
Initiative (IBI) has
announced that "Vertro
Biochar" produced by the
firm Vertrolysis LLC
meets the IBI Biochar
Standards and has
received certification.
05/29/2014
IEA Studies
Focus on Co-Generation,
Energy Efficiency, and AD
Pretreatment
The
International Energy
Agency (IEA) has released
a series of reports this
year, emphasizing the
benefits and
opportunities of
efficient energy,
advanced feedstock
processing methods, and
alternative fuels
utilization.
05/27/2014
The Week's Action
Items
Due
06/27/2014: Offers To SCE
for Eligible Renewable
Resources
Southern
California Edison (SCE)
has issued its Fifth
Renewable Auction
Mechanism Request for
Offers ("RAM 5 RFO") for
Product from Eligible
Renewable Resources.
05/31/2014
Due
06/30/2014: Abstracts for
DOE's Renewable Energy
Markets
Conference
The US
Department of Energy
(DOE) has opened a Call
for Abstracts for its
long-running annual
Renewable Energy Markets
(REM) Conference to be
held this year on
December 2-4, 2014 in
Sacramento, California.
05/29/2014
Due
07/18/2014: Applications to
NRCS California for Funding
for Tribal
Lands
The USDA
Natural Resources
Conservation Service
(NRCS) in California is
partnering with
California’s tribal
nations to make financial
assistance available to
tribal farmers, ranchers,
and non-industrial
private forest operators.
05/29/2014
Due
08/08/2014: Applications to
2014 Defense Energy
Technology
Challenge
Organizations
with defense-related
energy solutions are
invited to submit an
application (no fee to
apply) to compete in this
year's Defense Energy
Technology Challenge
(DETC).
05/27/2014
Due
09/15/2014: Abstracts,
Posters, Session Topics for
Waste to Worth
2015
The
non-profit eXtension
Foundation's Livestock
and Poultry Learning
Center has released a
call for submission of
abstracts, poster
concepts, and session
topics. The submissions
are sought as an aid to
planning the 2nd Annual
Waste to Worth conference
scheduled for March 31 to
April 3, 2015 in Seattle,
Washington.
05/27/2014
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