Teru Talk News

Teru Talk Newsletter

Volume IV, Issue 34, August 25, 2014 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "Terú")  

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Teru's Trash Talk

All around the planet, there's a drive now to "get organics out of the landfill". OK, but just how can Society accomplish this worthy goal? Ponder how you would identify, measure, intercept, and divert this flood of valuable resources toward higher uses, to fuels and fertilizers instead of "land-filling".

Households toss many pounds of food scraps in the trash every day. Their curbed cans get grabbed up by a trash truck and hauled off to either a Materials Recovery Facility (fondly called a "MRF") or straight to the dump. Residents need a special bin just for food waste, and that means a special truck to pick up these containers that now require special handling.

Neighborhood markets cluster where people can get to them quick during beer and chip shortage emergencies. Supermarket culls result in a ton or two a day going out the back door. Restaurants put a constant stream of Food Waste into the dumpster, and then off it goes to the dump. Both need to separate waste food from regular trash, if those organics are to be recovered. Their trash haulers then need ways to lift and transport those full, sloppy bins.

Farmers may send one in three tomatoes on to the restaurant, the market, the dinner table … and either send the rest to the processor, feed it to the animals, plow it into the soil, or (you guessed it) take it to the dump as a last resort. Food Processing plants package their brand of Food, and throw out an equal amount of organic gunk. Standing ready to divert the culls from the dump seems an insurmountable task.

Special bins, special trucks, and special hauling routes all cost more money than what we all do now. The infrastructure needs to change to accommodate recovered organics. Right now, most of that change is taking place one restaurant, one market, one processor at a time. If we plug the flow to the dump, we will need other ways to manage the mess - other incentives to cover the early stage transition costs.

If we establish smaller waste conversion plants near the source of organics, we cut transport costs and emissions: Greenhouse Gas reduction credits, Check.

We can improve the sustainability and energy self-sufficiency of our restaurants by using biogas from their own food waste digestion: LEEDs credits, and lower power bills, Check.

We can find one business that can use another business's residuals, either as raw materials or for combined heat and power supply: reduced waste disposal fees and power bills, Check.

We Can Do This: Check, Check and Check.

Hey Rube!

Wherever you start your Intercept, you have to take notes and keep track because you can't manage what you don't measure. We've posted News on GM's HQ food to fertilizer program, two eastern Casinos planning food waste to energy, the oldest fair in BC Canada powered by cow poo and food scraps - and check out the Swiss company receiving sustainability kudos for feedstock supply chain management. It seems there are some who know how to get this job done.

This Week's Top Story

Construction to Begin on MBT and Waste Gasification Power Plant in Derby

Shanks Group plc (Shanks) has announced that Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd (RRS), a joint venture with Interserve Group plc, has agreed to funding terms for construction of a new waste gasification power plant in south Derby, United Kingdom (UK). 08/22/2014

The Week's News

MBP Group Earns RSB Sustainability Certification

Swiss based multinational company MBP Group has earned the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) sustainability certification for waste material collection, trading, and distribution activities. 08/22/2014

Biomass Innovation Centre Hosts Seminar and Biomass to Bioenergy Training

In conjunction with Ontario, Canada's Bioeconomy Week in Thunder Bay, the Nipissing University's Biomass Innovation Centre (BIC) will be delivering a community seminar focused on developments in northern Ontario's bioeconomy, as well as a training session titled "Biomass to Bioenergy." 08/22/2014

PNNL Shows Water Leads to Chemical that Gunks Up Biofuels Production

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have discovered that water in the conversion process of plants to biofuels helps form an impurity that slows down key chemical reactions. 08/22/2014

JBEI Researchers Produce Bionic Liquids from Waste Lignin

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has announced that researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have developed “bionic liquids” from lignin and hemicellulose, two by-products of biofuel production from biorefineries. 0820/2014

GM Renaissance Center Composts Food Scraps for Detroit Urban Farms

General Motors (GM) has announced that it now composts food preparation scraps from its various Renaissance Center restaurant kitchens for use in urban farming initiatives throughout the city of Detroit, Michigan. 08/20/2014

Cowpower Will Power 'The Fair at The PNE' on Vancity Member Day

Vancity will be furnishing Cowpower’s renewable electricity at The Fair at The PNE on Vancity Member Day again this year to power every exhibit, ride, concession, building and attraction that uses electricity. 08/20/2014

Saxlund Will Provide Clean Burn Technology for UK Biomass CHP Plant

Southampton based Saxlund International has announced securing a significant contract to supply proven biomass combustion and fuel handling solutions to Twinwoods Heat & Power in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom (UK). 08/20/2014

Microbial Fuel Cell Bacteria Form Nanowires to Break Down Waste

Research led by University of Southern California (USC) assistant professor Moh El-Naggar has reversed the commonly held theory regarding how so-called "electric bacteria" used in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) shoot out tendrils that conduct electricity. 08/19/2014

Construction Financing Arranged for £74m Speyside Biomass CHP Facility

John Laing and the United Kingdom (UK) Green Investment Bank (GIB) have announced plans to invest in a new £74m green energy facility in Speyside, Scotland being developed by Edinburgh and London based Estover Energy Ltd (Estover). 08/18/2014

Mohegan Sun Massachusetts Will Be Greenest Resort Casino in the Nation

Mohegan Sun Massachusetts (MSM) has announced that it is expected to be the greenest resort casino in the nation with one of the highest scores of any such facility from the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification program. 08/18/2014

The Week's Action Items

Due 10/03/2014: Applications to Minnesota for Biomass Thermal Energy Grants

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the FY 2015 Biomass Thermal Energy Grant Round. 08/21/2014

Due 10/10/2014: Young Researchers Papers to 2015 WSED Conference

The OÖ Energiesparverband, organizers of the 2015 World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED) fourth annual international conference, have released a Call for Papers for two Young Researchers' Conference programs on Energy Efficiency and Biomass. 08/20/2014

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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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