Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue
35, September 2,
2014
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Labor Day Trash
Talk
There's
one sure thing we get when
we convert trash to goods:
we get Jobs. Clean waste
conversion creates a whole
string of new jobs, all
along the "value chain"
that starts with the waste
generator and ends with a
raw material being added
back into the manufacturing
circuit.
Closing
that Circular Economy loop
can reduce the amount of
crud going into the
landfill, off-set petroleum
fumes when biogas becomes
available as vehicle fuel,
and in general, lessens the
load on the region's
environment - all good. But
waste conversion also
provides new business
opportunities. When a
community collects and
converts large quantities
of food waste, money is
made off the goo instead of
paying to throw it away.
Other folks get the same
idea and bring their
gooey food waste. Now we
have an urban area that
costs less on the bottom
line for businesses that
generate lots of organic
waste. When an incoming
restaurateur, supermarket,
or food processing plant
developer starts looking
for a new location, lower
waste management costs
figure heavily into their
siting
decisions.
Here's
another regional
moneymaker: Business to
Business (B2B) residuals
reuse / conversion. That's
where the residue and waste
generated by one business
becomes the input, the
feedstock, for a second
business. It takes a savvy
municipal government to
guide and facilitate B2B
transfer, but in many areas
of the world the concept is
catching on with great
results. There are certain
rules of this road: the
businesses have to be
close, be willing to work
together, and have the
support of their
surrounding community,
including agencies willing
to permit new ideas. Here's
a plant that makes
furniture - and loads of
wood scraps. Next door is a
plant that needs heat
energy, lots of it. A clean
conversion technology can
turn the scraps of one
plant into heat for the
other.
It isn't
just the solid and liquid
wastes that need reuse and
recycling. We all want to
reduce carbon dioxide (CO2)
gaseous emissions being
released into the
atmosphere. That's one of
the key tenants of
addressing Climate Change.
CO2 can also be a very
useful and valuable
commodity. Pure CO2 is what
makes the bubbles in soft
drinks. CO2 can be fed into
a greenhouse; plants just
love the stuff, and
grow better and faster. Run
CO2 across the right kinds
of metals called
catalysts, and
liquid fuels drip out of
the other end: Waste Gas to
Fuel.
Before you toss something
that you can't figure out
how to reuse, look around
to see if someone else
might be able to use it -
my neighbor's discarded old
horse fencing makes great
tomato cages. Colorful
bottles can become cool
glassware and lanterns in
the hands of local
charities. But for the
bigger picture, encourage
your city and county to
organize the B2B process,
match-making one business'
residues with another
company's needs. Proper
reuse, recycling, and
conversion are strong
forces that can drive a
regional economy forward.
When a municipality smartly
implements B2B waste reuse,
recycling and conversion,
they not only help close
that resource recovery
loop: they also create
Jobs, Jobs,
Jobs.
Hey
Rube!
School's
gonna be back in session this
week all across the country;
some poor kids are already
totin' books. Look around your
pencils and note pads, take the
excess to your local school.
See if they'd like help
starting a compost bin and
veggie garden. Beyond that,
California's Energy Commission
has Prop 39 school energy
funding, and big schools make a
lot of waste. Dig
in.
Extra Reading
See our new
article by guest author Ian
Wakelin, CEO of Biffa.
Talking in the
Round
looks at who is driving
the circular economy and
what more needs to be done to
support businesses.
This Week's Top Story
Ballard
Deploys ElectraGen™-ME Fuel
Cells at Global Telecon in
Manila
British
Columbia, Canada based
Ballard Power Systems,
Inc has announced that
deployment of the first
20 Ballard
methanol-fuelled
ElectraGen™-ME backup
power systems has been
completed with Globe
Telecom, a major provider
of telecommunications
services in the
Philippines.
08/27/2014
The
Week's News
Viet Nam
Shrimp Pond Waste Project to
Produce Electricity with
Fuel
Cells
The
VietNamNet online
newspaper has reported
that a new project funded
by the Japanese
government will create
renewable green energy
from organic waste
discharged in
industrial-agricultural
activities in Mekong
Delta region.
09/01/2014
N-Viro
Relocates Bioorganic Fuel
Division to Central
Florida
Ohio
based N-Viro
International Corporation
has announced that it has
relocated company assets
from northeast to central
Florida as part of a
strategic plan to focus
on international growth.
08/29/2014
B&W
Hosts Congressman in South
Florida Waste-to-Energy
Plant #1
Tour
The
Babcock & Wilcox
Company (B&W) hosted
Congressman Patrick
Murphy for a tour of its
Facility #1 waste to
energy (WtE) plant in the
Solid Waste Authority of
Palm Beach County
Renewable Energy Park.
08/29/2014
Farmers in
Central America Generate
Energy From Coffee
Wastewater
Amsterdam
based UTZ Certified has
published the results of
a four-year project to
prove that is possible to
generate energy, tackle
climate change, and
protect water resources
by treating discharges
from coffee mills.
08/28/2014
Eisenmann
& Forester University to
Co-Host Anaerobic Digestion
Webinar
Forester
Communications has joined
forces with the German
based multi-national;
Eisenmann Corporation to
host an informational
webinar on Anaerobic
Digestion of Organic
Waste Streams, scheduled
for September 24, 2014.
08/28/2014
Paulee
CleanTec Competes to
Represent Israel in Global
Clean Tech
Open
Israeli
waste conversion company
Paulee CleanTec has been
selected as one of six
clean technology start-up
companies to compete in
Israel's national Clean
tech Open finals being
held on September 10,
2014 at Tel Aviv
University.
08/27/2014
John Deere
and Hillco Harvest Corn and
Bale Corn Stover in One
Pass
Idaho
based Hillco
Technologies, Inc,
working in developmental
partnership with John
Deere, has developed a
new system for harvesting
corn and baling corn
stover in one simple
step.
08/25/2014
California
BOF Requests Input on Forest
Practices and Carbon
Storage
The
California Board of
Forestry and Fire
Protection (BOF) is
requesting public and
stakeholder input on the
scope and analysis
methodologies to help
guide the agency's
response to the Carbon
Sink Act of 2010
(Assembly Bill 1504).
08/25/2014
The Week's Action
Items
Due
10/15/2014: Statements of
Interest for Clean Tech
Funding to
SDTC
Sustainable
Development Technology
Canada (SDTC) has
announced that its SD
Tech Fund™ and SD Natural
Gas Fund™ are accepting
Statements of Interest
(SOI) from August 27 to
October 15, 2014.
09/01/2014
|
