Teru Talk News

Teru Talk Newsletter

Volume IV, Issue 40, October 6, 2014 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "Terú")  

Teru's Trash Talk

To effectively recover the highest value materials when we convert waste back into green goods, we need to take into account three parts of the processing value chain: the feedstock, the conversion process, and the output.

A United Kingdom competition sets the stage. First: identify a waste that is continually produced. Whatever the scale of that waste generation, it is the consistency and dependability of generation that allows a concerted high-value recovery method to be chosen and effectively applied. These consistent feedstock supplies will be the first kinds of waste to get snapped up as the Circular Economy drive really gets in gear. Already, we are starting to see a veritable "food (waste) fight" in some progressive areas; this "low hanging fruit" won't last.

Another high-value goal is focused on recovery of foundation materials, what Teru Talk has in the past called molecular recovery. An example emerging rapidly is the recovery of rare and precious metals from electronic wastes. Most of these micro-bits of gold, silver, platinum, and other elements that are crucial to making our computing and communications gadgets work have for the most part been tossed in the dump along with those old computers. Smelting the plastic for energy recovery vaporizes the metals as emissions, or discards them with the ash. One estimate says that there are enough of these precious bits in the gray grunge coming off the last conveyor belt in a Materials Recovery Facility to pay for the day's operations if they are carefully sifted out.

Now to that second step in the value chain: the conversion process. If we have been making ethanol using yeasts to break down organics, we may have to swap out for more specialized bugs to achieve higher value molecular recovery. We are seeing this occur with green chemical production, and with the production of more elite forms of biofuels. If we select a thermal process, we must choose a method such as gasification that lets us intercept and extract high value materials like syngas from the gas stream.

A current example focused on the third step, output, is the Innovate UK's plan to invest a substantial sum of money in R&D projects seeking to increase recovery of valuable materials from waste. The just announced competition (see below) won't accept proposals for efforts focused on energy generation, remanufacturing or refurbishing - not because these approaches are unworthy, but rather that they want to advance development and application of waste conversion processes that get at the highest value base materials, the output.Of course, y ou need an "off-take agreement": someone ready to buy and utilize the stuff you recover, not just once, but over a long enough time to make economic sense for your sizable investment in the project.

Hey Rube!

As you read through the Teru Talk news these days, watch for the finesse (not ours, theirs): the examples of increased efficiency for existing systems that is gained through better pre-treatment, and better recovery of higher value resources via specialized "bolt-on" back end subsystems.

This Week's Top Story

Cool Planet Begins Commercial Production of CoolTerra™ Soil Amendment

Colorado based Cool Planet Energy Systems has unveiled its first commercial-scale production facility in Camarillo, California, for its CoolTerra™ soil amendment. 10/03/2014

The Week's News

Emerald Biofuels Will Use UOP Technology for Military Spec Biodiesel

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has announced that its advanced process technology will be used by Chicago company Emerald Biofuels, LLC to produce renewable diesel for the US military through the US Department of Defense Advanced Drop-in Biofuels Production Project. 10/03/2014

Hospital Commissions Heating System Fueled with Ensyn's Cellulosic Biofuel

Memorial Hospital hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week at its facilities in North Conway, New Hampshire, to celebrate the commissioning of Memorial's heating system conversion from traditional petroleum fuels to Ensyn's RFO™ renewable liquid fuel. 10/02/2014

MagneGas Partners with Urban Fish Farm for Waste Water Treatment Trials

Florida based MagneGas® Corporation (MagneGas) has announced signing a Letter of Intent for the placement of a 50kW Unit for waste water sterilization trials with a fish farm company located in Fort Myers, Florida. 10/01/2014

ReFood Produces ReGrow Biofertilizer From Digestion of Food Waste

The United Kingdom (UK) food waste recycler ReFood has launched "ReGrow", a new nutrient-rich biofertilizer produced by recycling food waste by anaerobic digestion (AD). 10/01/2014

Welsh Minister Advocates Food Supply Chain Review to Reduce Food Waste

Wales' Natural Resources Minister, Carl Sargeant, has introduced the Food Manufacture, Service and Retail Sector Plan, aimed at preventing food waste, reducing its production, and increasing recycling across supply chains. 10/01/2014

Arizona County Signs Contract with Anaergia for Biogas Upgrading Plant

Canada based Anaergia Inc. and its project partner Grannus, LLC, have signed a contract with the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department (PCRWRD) in Arizona to design-build-finance-own-operate (DBFOO) a large-scale biomethane upgrading facility. 0/01/2014

WELTEC Receives Order for French Biogas Project with Gas Processing

Germany based WELTEC BIOPOWER has announced receiving an order for a biogas project with gas processing to be located in the north of the Franche-Comté region on the Swiss border. 10/01/2014

Neste Oil to Recover CO2 at its Singapore Renewable Biodiesel Refinery

Neste Oil Singapore Pte Ltd and National Oxygen Pte Ltd (NOX), a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan company Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation, have signed an agreement to install a carbon dioxide (CO2) recovery and liquefaction plant at Neste Oil's renewable diesel refinery in Singapore. 09/29/2014

Republic Services Opens Two Bay Area Landfill Gas-To-Energy Projects

Arizona based Republic Services, Inc has announced its latest Landfill Gas-To-Energy (LGTE) projects at its Forward and Vasco Road Landfills in the San Francisco, California Bay Area. 09/29/2014

Anaergia Biogas System Starts Up at California’s Victor Valley WWTP

The Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority (VVWRA) held a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Friday, September 26, 2014, to mark the successful start-up of its new OmnivoreTM biogas production system, supplied by Anaergia Inc. 09/29/2014  

The Week's Action Items

Due 10/09/2014: Comments to Placer County APCD on Biochar Carbon Offsets

The Placer County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) partnered with the International Biochar Initiative and the Prasino Group to adapt the Biochar Carbon Offsets Methodology currently undergoing the evaluation and approval process with the American Carbon Registry (ACR) for potential use in California. 09/29/2014

Due 11/12/2014: Proposals to NV Energy for 100MWe Renewable Energy

NV Energy, Inc is requesting proposals for up to 100 megawatts of renewable energy resources. 10/03/2014

Due 12/01/2014: Loan Applications to CalRecycle for Organics Projects

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has announced that $4,662,000 in funding through the Organics Loan Program is available for the 2014/15 fiscal year. 10/02/2014

Due 02/25/2015: EOIs to Innovate UK for Waste Recovery R&D Funding

Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are planning to invest up to £4.5m in collaborative R&D projects that seek to increase the recovery of valuable materials from waste streams. 10/03/2014

View in browser
 
Follow TeruTalk on Twitter
Find Teru Talk on Google+ Like Teru Talk on Facebook!
 
 We're Number One!
 

Teru Talk Home

 
Current News at Teru Talk
 
Teru Action Items
 
 
TERU Focus Reports
 

Articles at Teru Talk

 
Teru Talk is looking for sponsors to help us continue the fight for waste conversion for resource recovery.  
 
Sponsors:
 
JDMT, Inc
 
Featured Events:
 
SEE YOUR EVENT HERE!
 

Recommended Reading:

Waste to energy conversion technology
Waste to energy conversion technology (Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy 2013)

 

© Copyright 2014 Teru Talk by JDMT, Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

Please do not reply to this email because the mail box is not monitored and we might miss it. Please click here to Contact Us.

If you received this from someone else, subscribe so you can have your own. You may also unsubscribe or update your email preferences
by clicking one of the links below.

The Teru Talk Newsletter is published weekly or more or less frequently, primarily depending on what is going on in the world of waste conversion or ours.