Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 11, March
16,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
As we learn to count the damage
in making a finished product,
it isn't comfortable to know
how much things
really
cost.
Society has long been going to
great lengths to bury the true
cost of the Fuel Business.
Figuring out what getting and
refining that Black Gold to gas
actually costs means tracking
damage. Finding scientific ways
for comparing petrol's
destructive path to other kinds
of fuel is the impetus for
developing Low Carbon Fuel
Standards
(LCFS).
Make no mistake: we
always
get to
pay for the mess we make, one
way or another. The view is
highly filtered for the benefit
of those controlling the
process. This applies just as
much when the path is field to
table, as with crude to
wheels.
With Oregon's implementation of
their own Clean Fuels bill,
most of The West Coast will be
trying on those close-fitting
Low Carbon Fuel Standards, and
alternative fuel producers will
need to keep better books.
Waste-sourced feedstock trumps
purpose-grown crop conversion
on the Sustainability Meter.
Clear-cutting native plants for
fuel doesn't "cut it", counting
almost as bad as pumping up
more petroleum. The market
acceptance and governmental
support perks for sustainably
produced fuels are great, but
the proof is tough to come by
in establishing those highly
valued low carbon
pathways.
If you are going to brag about
your Low Carbon This and your
Sustainable That, it isn't good
enough to just make the claim,
you need to be able to
consistently and repeatedly
prove it. Enter the tedious
necessity of establishing a
Chain of Custody. Every step
gets an ear-tag, and each bit
of noxious emissions produced
all along the "chain" of events
from source to product gets
tallied.
If the all-in cost of growing
corn for ethanol is tracked, we
get some number maybe ten times
less destructive than making
petrol. When we then turn the
"stover", the stalks of those
same corn plants, into Second
Generation biofuel, most of the
tallied cost of producing the
crop was already covered. The
stover is just the
waste.
There is
also a real cost to the planet
that we can count up, tallying
the emissions associated with
growing tomatoes and lettuce,
steaks and eggs. Instead of
tossing the table scraps in the
trash and counting long-term
landfill emissions damage, we
can now make fuel from "food
waste", and figure we've
already paid the dues to grow
the food and get it to market.
If first generation ethanol is
ten times less troublesome than
making petroleum gasoline, food
waste generated biofuels can
prove up to
twenty-five
times
less
damaging, per
California's own LCFS
accounting. Now we're
getting
somewhere.
Get used to seeing these tally
sheets auguring one sustainable
product against another based
on the cumulative "life cycle
greenhouse gas emissions" as a
measure of damage to our
planet. Yes, it is not pleasant
to value transport octane by
how well we can breathe the
exhaust, but in our book, it
sure beats being shined on as
if we are all too stupid to
understand.
Hey Rube!
Good
stuff in this week's News.
Bills signed; free training
available. Money doled out;
projects ramping up. New
detailed studies that tell it
like it is, and as it should
be. Dig in, enjoy the
read.
This Week's Top Story
Capstone
Microturbines Will Convert
Biogas Into CHP for Irvine
WWTP
Capstone Turbine Corporation
has announced that it received
an order to upgrade the Irvine
Ranch Water District's
Michelson Water Recycling Plant
in Irvine, California with five
C200 microturbines.
03/10/2015
The Week's News
RSB to Hold
Webinar on Chain of Custody
Systems for Biomass
Feedstock
The Roundtable on Sustainable
Biomaterials (RSB) has
scheduled a webinar on 'Chain
of Custody Systems - Choosing
the Best Solution' to be held
on March 24-25, 2015
03/13/2015
Oregon
Governor Signs Low Carbon
Fuels
Legislation
The State of Oregon's Governor
Kate Brown has signed into law
SB 324, the state's low-carbon
Clean Fuels legislation,
repealing the sunset on
provisions related to low
carbon fuel standards, and
formalizing the process of
developing and implementing
standards for the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions.
03/13/2015
Valmet to
Deliver Biomass Boiler Plant
to Nokianvirran Energia in
Finland
Valmet will deliver a boiler
plant that utilizes biomass to
Nokianvirran Energia in
Finland. The boiler plant will
be delivered for a new steam
heat station to be built in
Nokia.
03/12/2015
B&W
Vølund Awarded Contracts for
UK Biomass Power
Plant
The Babcock & Wilcox
Company (B&W) has announced
that its Denmark-based
subsidiary, Babcock &
Wilcox Vølund A/S, has been
awarded contracts totaling more
than $220 million to design,
manufacture, and operate a
biomass power plant in
Rotherham, South Yorkshire,
England.
03/12/2015
Cirque Plans
2015 Commercialization of
Waste-to-Energy DGU
Technology
Michigan based Cirque Energy,
Inc has announced updates to
its business strategy to bring
its technology and products to
market faster, generate revenue
sooner, and grow shareholder
value.
03/11/2015
CEC Selects
Six Clean Energy Projects
for $14.3M in Funding
Assistance
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has released a
Notice of Proposed Awards for
Program Opportunity Notice
(PON) PON-14-307 "Demonstrating
Clean Energy Solutions That
Support California's
Industries, the Environment,
and the Electrical Grid."
03/11/2015
Viridor's
Cardiff Energy Recovery
Facility Is Now
Operational
Viridor has announced that the
construction and commissioning
phase of its Energy Recovery
Facility (ERF) at Trident Park,
Cardiff, Wales has been
completed.
03/10/2015
Drax
Acquires Wood Pellet
Manufacturer Billington
Bioenergy
United Kingdom (UK) based Drax
Group has announced the
acquisition of Billington
Bioenergy Ltd (BBE), the UK’s
second largest wood pellet
distributor.
03/10/2015
UK Releases
Bioeconomy Report Focused on
Opportunities from
Waste
The United Kingdom (UK)
Department for Business,
Innovation & Skills has
released Building a high value
bioeconomy: opportunities from
waste, a report highlighting
the range of actions being
taken across government to grow
the bioeconomy using waste as a
feedstock.
03/10/2015
Dyadic
Raises $2 Million in Private
Placement for Bridge
Financing
Florida based Dyadic
International, Inc has
announced that it has completed
a private placement of
$2,000,000 in convertible
subordinated secured promissory
note (the “Note”).
03/09/2015
Total
Invests in Renmatix and
Initiates Joint Development
Agreement
Renmatix has announced an
investment by the New Energies
Division of Total, and the
signature of a joint
development agreement (JDA)
between Total and Renmatix.
03/09/2015
ABPDU and
Lygos Achieve First
Pilot-Scale Renewable
Malonic
Acid
California based Lygos, Inc has
announced that it has
successfully achieved pilot
scale production of malonic
acid from sugar.
03/09/2015
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