Teru Talk Newsletter

Teru's Trash Talk

A rose by any other name … it is in our nature to want to make something unique, even when all we do is give it a new buzz-word, catch-phrase, sales mark. Intuitively we know that Perception is King, and if we find that folks have a pre-conceived negative notion about our process, we call that process something else. This trait certainly impacts the public understanding of the tools that can accomplish clean waste conversion for resource recovery. "Oh, no: we aren't incinerating , we're thermally recycling that garbage." This seems to be a necessary and somewhat unavoidable obfuscation, given that people all too often make up their minds, for better or worse, based on catch-phrases and marketing lines.

Yet similar kinds of things can also end up with different names for fact-based reasons. It seems that the Inuit people have dozens of names for different kinds of snow, probably because differences in snow are far more important, the further north of the equator that you abide. To a botanist, there are literally hundreds of kinds of Helianthus; to most folks, they are all sunflowers . If you are making biogas, those hungry microbes are digesting ; if you are making beer, the micro-beasties are fermenting and if it is mulch you want them to make, they're composting . The scientific differences are in amounts of oxygen microbiological biorefineries use to do their deeds; most folks are just happy to keep the products separate.

To serve up detail accurately, Teru Talk spends a lot of time focused on labels, what inventors name their inventions, what developers call the tools they use. Yet what is really important? If you put garbage in a no-name black box and it can cleanly and economically convert that waste liability back to resource assets you need, not just once but again and again, then that's an acceptable option. Proper naming is important for marketing but not for function. The real trick is to have proof that the tools are particularly well suited for the crud-conversion task at hand.

Teru Talk reports to our dear readers on projects where the Right Tools are being used to cleanly convert garbage to goods and waste to wealth. We constantly track those tools, the tool makers who make them, the developers that use them and the whole arena of folks who in some way support this crucial part of the Circular Economy. We want folks to know that there are many options for clean and economical waste conversion, and that the list grows longer every day. We want the main decisions informing this match-making process to be dependent on the feedstock , the waste you want to convert. And we want the selection of options to be based on the logical, scientific, proven ability to do the job, not on some New and Improved brand name - or on some ill-informed predisposition as to appropriateness.

Here then is our #1 Recommended Policy for advancing clean, economical waste conversion: make sure decisions are Feedstock Driven and Technology Neutral.

Hey Rube!

Just as Recycling involves so much more than bottles, cans, and newspaper, waste conversion focuses on far more than food scraps and sewage. Anything that is being thrown away should be seen as a resource waiting for rescue. Don't expect to know the how of that recovery, but do know others are facing that very same problem. Think of Teru Talk news as guideposts to what others are making work, and then see if those recovery tools will fit your waste conversion challenge.

This Week's Top Story

Rivertop Renewables Begins Construction of Commercial Manufacturing Plant

Montana based Rivertop Renewables has begun construction of its first commercial plant, located at DanChem Technologies, Inc’s (DTI) facility in Danville, Virginia. 10/12/2014

The Week's News

Florida County Selects Covanta to Operate Resource Recovery Facility

New Jersey based Covanta has announced that it has assumed operations of the Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company was selected to operate the facility for a 10-year term after a competitive procurement process. 10/12/2014

UK DECC Publishes Review of RHI Biomethane Injection to Grid Tariff

The United Kingdom's (UK) Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was introduced in 2011 to incentivize the uptake of renewable heat in industry, businesses and public sector organizations. 12/10/2014

REG Invests in German Firm Petrotec Biodiesel for Expansion into Europe

Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG) and IC Green Energy Ltd. (ICG) have announced that REG, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, will acquire ICG’s majority equity ownership position in German biodiesel producer Petrotec AG. 12/10/2014

Stora Enso Will Open New Biomaterials Innovation Centre in Sweden

Stora Enso has announced that it will concentrate its new biomaterials business development in an Innovation Centre to be located in the Stockholm area in Sweden. 12/09/2014

Total Energy Ventures Invests in Solidia CO2 Cement Technology

Total Energy Ventures, the corporate venture investment arm of the French energy company Total S.A., has announced investment in Solidia Technologies cement manufacturing platform. 12/09/2014

Echogen Power Waste Heat Recovery System Is Available as Turnkey Solution

Florida based Echogen Power Systems has announced the commercial availability of its EPS100 heat engine system as a turnkey solution that satisfies energy demand, environmental requirements, and bottom line cost savings for industrial, power generation, oil & gas, and marine customers. 12/09/2014

Valmet to Supply Flue Gas Scrubber to Fortum's Biomass CHP Plant in Finland

Finnish corporation Valmet will supply a flue-gas cleaning and condensation plant valued at EUR 8 million to Fortum's combined heat and power plant in Joensuu, Finland. 12/08/2014

MagneGas Invited to United Nations Ebola Crisis Response Meeting

Florida-based MagneGas Corporation has announced that it has been invited to participate in United Nations (UN) Ebola Crisis Response high-level meetings being held on Thursday, December 11, 2014 at the UN headquarters in New York City. 12/08/2014

NYSERDA Supports BioEnergy for Campus Heating at Paul Smith's College

The four-year Paul Smith's College in Adirondack Park, New York, has announced an agreement with the New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to install a highly sustainable, state-of-the-art wood-pellet boiler system to heat its three academic buildings. 12/08/2014

UPM and WWF Finland Promote Sustainability of Wood-Based Liquid Biofuels

UPM and WWF Finland are working together to present a list of joint measures to be carried out to promote sustainability of wood-based liquid biofuels in Finland. 12/08/2014

The Week's Action Items

Due 02/06/2015: Applications to CEC for Advanced Clean Energy from Biogas

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released Program Opportunity Notice PON-14-505, "Advanced Clean Energy from Biogas, Biomethane and Natural Gas. 12/12/2014

Due 02/13/2015: EOI for UK Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Competition

The United Kingdom (UK) Department for Transport, Ricardo-AEA, and E4tech have announced launch of a £25 million advanced biofuels demonstration competition to support the development of a domestic advanced biofuel industry. 12/12/2014