Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue
41, October 13,
2014
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
The
primary challenge facing us
these days is how to
economically sustain growth
while increasing resource
efficiency and decreasing
environmental impact; it's
a balancing act.
In our
all-too-human activities,
we fight to balance Reason
and Good Judgment against
Convenience and Expediency.
We find everywhere the
scars of our Throw Away
Society nurtured by a
couple generations of
carelessness and assumed
excess, from disposable
diapers to food and product
packaging. Resources come
to us, we make use of what
we can get our hands on,
and once done, discard
"waste" back into the
environment. All that is
starting to change out of a
desperate need to slow the
rush to scarcity of
materials.
The
long-standing Waste
Management axiom has
dictated Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle, and only
then Dispose, and by
now, most folks can get
their head around the
concept. We certainly must
do what we can to not allow
materials to become "waste"
in the first place. Waste
prevention begins with
taking more care when
storing veggies in the
fridge, to fixing a toaster
instead of buying another,
to choosing not to encase
products in umpteen layers
of plastic packaging. Reuse
comes about when we find a
way to repurpose
something once it has
served an initial role.
This can be as simple as
turning food containers
into gardening supplies, or
as complex as turning
worn-out hardwood gymnasium
flooring into colorful,
high-value counter-tops,
out of date billboard vinyl
into swimming pool covers,
frayed fire hose to bumper
guards.
Society
thought it understood what
Recycling was, but it is
much more than cans and
bottles. Too often, we've
been trading a Good Feeling
for shipping environmental
problems out of country.
Yet without the local
infrastructure needed to
convert those "recyclates"
back into useful materials,
the only other choice has
been the local
dump.
Globally,
the Waste Management
Hierarchy has shifted to
recognize that one way or
another, Recovery
must be attempted
before final disposal. In
the US, the new policy
positions Energy Recovery
immediately after Recycling
and before Disposal, but
this falls short. EPA
defines
Energy
Recovery
from
waste as
"…the
conversion of
non-recyclable waste
materials into useable
heat, electricity, or fuel
…"
The European Directive
broadens this to all
Recovery options.
Considering
the value of foundation
chemicals and of
waste-sourced raw materials
like rare and precious
metals contained in
electronic waste, we opt
for the more inclusive
language.
Investing in a
clean, diverse,
and localized Resource
Recovery infrastructure
lets recyclers find local
processors. Regional and
community based processing
provides local jobs, cuts
transport emissions, and
increases the availability
of raw materials for the
manufacturing sector. Waste
conversion for resource
recovery improves both
resource and energy
security, and
closes
the loop of our
Circular
Waste
Economy.
Now it balances.
Hey
Rube!
The European Federation of
Waste Management and
Environmental Service has just
released a concise,
comprehensive Strategy for
"Driving the Circular Economy"
(see news item below). Go
through their 7-point Plan, and
see how many different Resource
Recovery keystones we touch on
with the tools and techniques
highlighted in this week's
news. Impressive, folks: keep
up the good
work!
This Week's Top Story
GE and
PurposeEnergy to Recycle
Industrial Wastewater and
Generate
Energy
GE and
PurposeEnergy Inc have
announced their
collaboration to combine
GE’s new anaerobic
membrane bioreactor
(AnMBR) technology and
PurposeEnergy’s
Tribrid-Bioreactor™ as a
solution to reuse
industrial wastewater
while also turning waste
into energy.
10/06/2014
The
Week's News
ACC Report
Assesses Economic Potential
of Plastics to Oil
Conversion
Wide-scale
deployment of emerging
pyrolysis technology that
converts used,
non-recycled plastics
into oil could generate
up to $9 billion in
annual U.S. economic
output and create upwards
of 40,000 domestic jobs,
according to a report
just released by the
American Chemistry
Council (ACC).
10/10/2014
DOE
Allocates $13.4 Million to
Develop Advanced Biofuels
and
Bioproducts
The US
Department of Energy
(DOE) has announced up to
$13.4 million for five
projects to develop
advanced biofuels and
bioproducts to help drive
down the cost of
producing gasoline,
diesel, and jet fuel from
biomass.
10/10/2014
Community
Fuels Awarded $4.1MM Grant
to Upgrade California
Biorefinery
American
Biodiesel, Inc doing
business as Community
Fuels has been awarded a
$4,183,421 grant by the
California Energy
Commission (CEC) to
support installation of
new equipment to increase
efficiencies and expand
the range of low carbon
feedstocks that can be
processed at its existing
Port of Stockton advanced
biorefinery.
10/10/2014
BlueFire
Renewables Contracts China
Company for Cellulosic
Ethanol
Facility
California
based BlueFire
Renewables, Inc has
announced that it
finalized and signed a
new Master Engineering,
Procurement and
Construction (EPC)
contract for its planned
cellulosic ethanol
facility in Fulton,
Mississippi.
10/10/2014
Sierra
Energy Seeks Support for a
Chase Bank Mission Main
Street
Grant
Sierra
Energy has circulated a
request for voting
support to stay in the
running for the Chase
Bank grant program.
10/09/2014
ESA Supports
FEAD Circular Economy
Strategy for Waste
Management
The
European Federation of
Waste Management and
Environmental Services
(FEAD) presented its
Strategy “Driving the
Circular Economy”, in
Brussels on October 7,
2014.
10/09/2014
Webinar Will
Focus on Environmental
Permitting for Bioenergy
Facilities
The
American Biogas Council
(ABC) and the Bioenergy
Association of California
(BAC) are jointly hosting
a webinar on October 15,
2014 to explore the key
first phase of bioenergy
project development is
permitting.
10/09/2014
AECOM
Awarded Contract for Newtown
Creek Renewable Natural Gas
Project
Los
Angeles based AECOM
Technology Corporation
has announced that it has
been awarded a
design-build contract
from National Grid, in
partnership with the New
York City Department of
Environmental Protection,
to provide engineering,
procurement, and
construction services for
the Newtown Creek
Renewable Natural Gas
Project in New York City.
10/08/2014
IBI Approves
Policy Revisions in Version
2.0 of the IBI Biochar
Standards
The
International Biochar
Initiative (IBI) has
announced that its
membership has approved
significant proposed
policy changes for
Version 2.0 of the IBI
Biochar Standards.
10/08/2014
LanzaTech
Named Global Cleantech North
American Company of the
Year
LanzaTech
has announced it was
named to the prestigious
2014 Global Cleantech
100, produced by
Cleantech Group, and was
awarded North American
Company of the Year as
the highest-ranked
company on the list from
the region.
10/07/2014
Liquid Light
Designated Rising Star of
the Year in 2014 Global
Cleantech
100
New
Jersey based Liquid Light
Corporation announced
that it has been honored
as the “Rising Star of
the Year” in the 2014
Global Cleantech 100 list
produced by the Cleantech
Group, a leading global
research and advisory
firm.
10/07/2014
Neste Jacobs
Is EPCM for Neste Oil's
Biopropane Plant at
Rotterdam
Refinery
Technology,
engineering and project
management company Neste
Jacobs has been chosen as
the EPCM contractor to
design and implement the
new biopropane production
process at Neste Oil’s
Rotterdam refinery.
10/06/2014
The Week's Action
Items
Due
11/06/2014: Feasibility
Study Proposals for Biomass
Energy
Facility
The
Camptonville Community
Partnership (CCP), grant
administrator for the
Yuba Watershed Protection
& Fire Safe Council
(YWP&FSC), has issued
a Request for Proposals
(RFP) for preparation of
a Comprehensive
Feasibility Study for a
Biomass Power or Combined
Heat and Power (CHP)
Facility in Camptonville,
California.
10/10/2014
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