Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 13, March
30,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Organics! Organics! That's this
week's, nay, this
month's buzz word. From
organics we are made,
and to organics we shall return
- now
there's
recycling for
you.
From governments everywhere,
the word is out: Keep those
Organics out of the Landfill!
Almost half of the stuff we
toss is composed of
biodegradable organic
molecules. Silly stuff to throw
away, since we can get heat and
power, fuels and chemicals from
those organo-discards. But left
to rot on their own, nasty-gas
is released into our
atmosphere, instead of being
converted and diverted to our
fuel tanks.
Exactly how are humans supposed
to turn from the ease of the
toss, to the difficult and
messy business of collection,
separation, cleaning,
pre-treatment, conversion, and
remanufacturing? By law, we
call that process Recycling.
Last week in California we all
watched with morbid fascination
as the state waste management
agency CalRecycle explained
just how woefully inadequate we
are when it comes to tracking
and measuring recycled
materials. We really can't even
tell how much of the stuff we
separate from our garbage ever
actually gets
recycled.
We only
know it's been
separated.
If we can't manage to
measure
the
processes and quantities of our
recycling, organic waste or
not, can we really tell if we
have enough places to put it?
Governments tend to make
long-standing practices illegal
before there are sufficient
alternatives. With that much
excess organic material being
diverted from disposal, you
would think that industry would
be ready, willing, and able to
make Business out of organic
wastes. And yes, there is
beginning to be a real
gold-rush, with good folks
trying to get the money, pull
the permits and start turning
waste organics into dollar
bills. Maybe we're a bit out of
order, but now we have the
regs, we have the science, we
have the technologies and we
have the market for the
end-products. So why is this so
difficult? Ah, let me count the
ways...
What we collectively have not
figured out are cost-effective
methods for collecting this wet
and gooey gold, keeping it all
separate from the rest of the
garbage, and then getting it
into a control system before
the glop accomplishes its own
open-air "waste conversion". We
don't know how to build out and
maintain the organic feedstock
supply chain. Not a simple
task, as it turns
out.
Restaurants and
markets are loathe to take on
the training and handling
needed to keep organics
separate from the rest of the
trash, even when smart folks
can show them how. Trash
haulers are set up to take big
cans and bins and then put
everything in the same truck;
they tend to frown on the idea
of collecting little wet and
gooey bags of food waste. It
seems better and more efficient
to separate organics from other
trash at the source than to mix
them all up together. Thing is,
everyone around the planet who
is trying to convert organics
for beneficial use must figure
out some way to manage this
step. Eventually, the Best
Practices for Organics
Collection will emerge. Until
then, glove-up and be
creative!
Hey Rube!
Here's your homework:
everywhere you go, in your home
or outside of it, start looking
around at the organic goo being
generated and tossed. Try to
measure quantities, be aware of
what sort of crud is in that
muck, and guess where it will
end up. Waste Generator,
educate
thyself.
This Week's Top Story
Springboard
Supplies US Military in
Afghanistan With Biodiesel
System
California company Springboard
Biodiesel has announced its
selection to provide its
turn-key, small-scale biodiesel
processing system to Bagram
Airfield in the Parwan Province
of Afghanistan.
03/27/2015
The Week's News
GIB and ESB
Support New £190m Biomass
Power Plant on the
Thames
United Kingdom (UK) Green
Investment Bank plc (GIB) and
Irish electricity utility
Electricity Supply Board (ESB)
have made a combined commitment
to invest £70 million in a new
£190m renewable power facility
at the Port of Tilbury, Essex.
03/27/2015
Greenleaf
Power Purchases Plainfield
Biomass Energy Facility in
Connecticut
California based Greenleaf
Power LLC has announced that it
has entered into an agreement
to acquire the Plainfield
Renewable Energy facility in
Connecticut.
03/26/2015
CEC to Award
Grants for Clean Energy from
Biogas, Biomethane, and
RNG
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has released a
“Notice of Proposed Awards” for
Program Opportunity Notice
(PON) PON-14-505, Advancing
Clean Energy from Biogas,
Biomethane, and Natural
Gas.
03/26/2015
Applied
CleanTech Completes
Successful SRS Pilots in
Mexico and
Canada
California based Applied
CleanTech (ACT) has announced
finalizing its successful pilot
program with Veolia France,
Mexico and Alberta, Canada in
implementing its Sewage
Recycling System (SRS)
Technology on a global basis.
03/26/2015
Air Liquide
Technology Produces 2nd
Generation Biofuel in
Bioliq™
Pilot
France based Air Liquide has
announced that the bioliq™
pilot plant in Germany is now
producing second generation
biofuel. For this project, Air
Liquide provided key
technologies for the pyrolysis*
of biomass and gas synthesis as
well as the oxygen supply
needed for the gasification
process.
03/26/2015
Centennial
Renewable Energy Secures
Financing to Build Idaho
Pellet
Mill
Centennial Renewable Energy of
Idaho (CRE) has announced that
is has signed agreements to
purchase land for its first
wood pellet project in the
state and is beginning
engineering design with its
lead design build contractor
Dome Technology.
03/24/2015
Xergi's New
Biogas Plant Makes France
More
Self-Sufficient
Xergi has announced that a new
biogas plant is now on the way
to the village of Ennezat near
Clermont Ferrand in central
France.
03/24/2015
Scotland Set
for First £111M Recycling
and Waste-to-Energy
Plant
United Kingdom (UK) Green
Investment Bank plc (GIB),
Foresight Group, and Zouk
Capital LLP have announced
equity investments in the
construction of the £111
million Levenseat Renewable
Energy Limited 12.3 MWe energy
from waste (EfW) plant and
adjacent Materials Recycling
Facility (MRF) at Forth by
Lanark, Scotland.
03/23/2015
WELTEC
BIOPOWER Builds 500-kW
Biogas Plant for Vegetable
Producer
In January 2015, WELTEC
BIOPOWER has announced that it
began building a 500-kW
anaerobic digestion (AD) plant
in Loughgall, Northern Ireland
for the vegetable producer
Gilfresh Produce.
03/23/2015
The Week's Action Item
Due
04/30/2015: Abstracts for
Waste Conversion Technology
Conference
The Waste Conversion Technology
Association has issued a Call
for Abstracts for the 8th
Annual Waste Conversion
Technology Conference &
Trade Show (WCTC), scheduled
for August 17-19, 2015 in San
Diego, California.
03/24/2015
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