Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue
37, September 15,
2014
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
There
will always be room for
simply turning biomass to
heat and power. Yet given
the know-how, the right
tools and a market ready,
willing, and able to
pay for sustainable
production, why stop short?
These are the times for
fine-tuning the conversion
of worthy residuals back
into foundation materials
and final goods.
It is
particularly encouraging to
know that there are bright
people out there who can
take biomass and turn it
into "Bio-Isoprene" or into
"Bio-Propane" - which are
just two more products we
don't need to make out of
petroleum. It is
heartwarming to find entire
research teams focused on
"overcoming the technical
hurdles in value chains" -
making more money out of
the leftovers from
already-advanced
biorefineries.
By now,
turning food waste into
biogas is so last
month that it seems
everybody's doing
it. But it takes some
serious thought to figure
out how your friendly local
market can buy
"certificates" that support
that biogas production,
even when the biogas plant
is located half-way across
the region. Biomass fuel
pellets are replacing coal
in big power plants. Sewage
treatment has advanced with
methods to reclaim pure
nutrients like phosphorus.
Even that old air quality
nemesis carbon dioxide has
become feedstock for
renewable fuels and
chemicals.
Now it is
time for our agencies to
catch up and aid rather
than hinder. Some are
further along than others;
the UK Environment Agency
just knocked down a few
more barriers to on-farm
biogas production. Here in
the states, we find
Louisiana's Governor
stepping up, helping a
company develop a whole
string of advanced pellet
fuel plants, using the
residual stalks or
"bagasse" left after making
sugar cane into sugar. Even
the City of Honolulu showed
some class, resolving to up
the ante on using biodiesel
for their municipal
vehicles.
These
advances are how we tell
that Clean Waste Conversion
is becoming part of our
mainstream societal
infrastructure. Rather than
big, risky novelty acts,
the Waste Conversion tools
we need are becoming
smaller, more cost
effective, and
sophisticated enough for
our cities, our farms, and
industrial complexes, and
to fit right into our
homes.
Hey
Rube!
If there is
one type of waste that is
everyone's target for clean
conversion right now, it is
Food Waste. Yet look around
yourself this week, and you'll
notice that not all "food
waste" is the same. The UK's
definition of what is a
non-waste residual and what is
actually a "waste" under the
law helps draw a line for
permitting - it just makes
sense that the safe collection
and conversion of restaurant
plate scrapings is a whole
different problem than managing
tomato culls from the farm. It
is very good to recognize the
growing expertise, the
broadening tool set, capable of
picking apart all our leftovers
and turning the components back
into something useful in the
marketplace. Knowing that
someone knows how, makes
a lot of difference. Now, we
need to be more observant about
what goes into the dumpster, so
we can start seeing that the
Waste we toss today can become
someone else's Resource
tomorrow.
This Week's Top Story
UK Cuts Red
Tape for Use of Agricultural
Residue in Anaerobic
Digesters
The
United Kingdom (UK)
Environment Agency has
released a Briefing note
clarifying that anaerobic
digestion (AD) facilities
accepting only
agricultural residue do
not need an environmental
permit.
09/12/2014
The
Week's News
Atikokan
Coal Generating Station in
Ontario Now Operating on
Biomass
Ontario
Power Generation (OPG)
has announced that its
Atikokan Generating
Station (GS) is operating
on biomass instead of
coal, and is now the
largest power plant in
North America fuelled by
100 per cent biomass.
09/13/2014
NFR
BioEnergy Plans $312MM
Bagasse to Pellet Project In
South
Louisiana
Louisiana
Governor Bobby Jindal and
Frank Randazzo, Chief
Operating Officer of NFR
BioEnergy, LLC have
announced the company
plans to make a $312
million capital
investment to install
biorefineries at more
than 10 sugar refining
hubs in south Louisiana,
subject to completing
lease and biomass
agreements with sugar
mills.
09/13/2014
Biodiesel
Initiative for City Vehicles
Makes Sense for
Honolulu
According
to Oregon-based Pacific
Biodiesel, the Honolulu
City Council adopted a
Resolution 14-169 on
September 10, 2014
requesting the Department
of Transportation through
its public-private
partnership with Oahu
Transit Services, Inc
Services develop a City
Biodiesel Initiative for
the city's mass transit
diesel vehicles.
09/12/2014
Liquid Light
Raises $15MM to Advance CO2
Conversion to
Chemicals
New
Jersey based Liquid
Light, Inc has announced
that it has closed a $15
million Series B
financing. New investors
include Sustainable
Conversion Ventures,
which focuses on
renewable fuels and
chemicals investments.
09/11/2014
AVA-CO2
Achieves Breakthrough in
Phosphorus
Recovery
Switzerland
based AVA-CO2 Schweiz AG
has announced development
of the "AVA cleanphos"
process to recover
phosphorus directly from
the char resulting from
hydrothermal
carbonization (HTC) of
sewage sludge.
09/11/2014
Energos to
Install Gasification System
for Derby Waste Conversion
Plant
United
Kingdom company Energos
has secured a £65m
contract to supply
gasification systems for
the £145 million
integrated waste
management centre in
Derby.
09/11/2014
Neste Oil
Will Build Biopropane Plant
at Rotterdam
Refinery
Finland
based Neste Oil has
announced that it will
build a EUR 60 million
biopropane plant at its
Rotterdam refinery, with
sales of biopropane
scheduled to begin by the
end of 2016.
09/11/2014
Eco Waste
Solutions Named Defense
Energy Technology Challenge
Finalist
Ontario,
Canada based Eco Waste
Solutions (EWS), a
manufacturer of thermal
waste conversion and
energy recovery
technologies, has
announced that it was
selected as a finalist in
the 5th bi-annual Defense
Energy Technology
Challenge (DETC).
09/10/2014
EESI Hosts
Briefing to Update Carbon
Accounting and Vehicle Fuel
Research
The
Washington DC based
Environmental and Energy
Study Institute (EESI)
has announced a panel
briefing examining recent
research regarding the
carbon dioxide (CO2)
intensity of
transportation fuels,
such as crude oil and
ethanol.
09/10/2014
Council
Approves Peel
Environmental's North
Yorkshire Energy
Centre
United
Kingdom (UK) based Peel
Environmental, a division
of The Peel Group, has
announced that the North
Yorkshire County
Council’s Planning and
Regulatory Functions
Committee has granted
approval of Peel's £200
million Energy Centre to
be located at Kellingley
Colliery.
09/10/2014
Marks &
Spencer to Buy Biomethane
Certificates to Reduce
Carbon
Footprint
London
based Marks & Spencer
(M&S) has agreed to
purchase 35,000 Mega-Watt
hours of biomethane
certificates from Future
Biogas, a move which will
reduce its carbon
footprint by over 6,400
tonnes and source the
equivalent amount of
energy to heat 15 M&S
Simply Food stores all
year round.
09/09/2014
Braskem
Joins Amyris and Michelin
for Renewable Isoprene
Development
Amyris,
Braskem, and Michelin
have jointly announced
that Braskem is joining a
collaboration already
launched in 2011 between
Michelin and Amyris.
09/09/2014
New AERTOs
Project Focuses on Lignin
and Algae Processes for
Biorefineries
VTT
Technical Research Centre
of Finland (VTT) has
announced that Associated
European Research and
Technology Organisations
(AERTOs) has begun a
2-year research project
to stimulate the
development of the
bio-based economy in
Europe and overcome
technical hurdles in the
innovation value chains.
09/09/2014
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