Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 18, May 4,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"TerĂº")
Teru's Trash Talk
Produce prejudice, that's what
it is! Let's hear it for
misbegotten melons, too-lumpy
tomatoes, twisted carrots -
let's all join the ugly fruit
and vegetable movement. Rebel,
we say, against the picture
perfect produce that graces our
store isles, and seek out those
misfit apples whose only crime
has been to not be pretty
enough to make the
marketability
cut.
This is big-time wastage.
The United
Nations last year
estimated that about one
half of all food crops never
make it to market for
primarily cosmetic reasons;
the tally of just the edible
parts sent to disposal
accounts for literally
billions of tons of waste
annually.
There's Good Food, ready to
eat. There's truly bad stuff
that probably once was food,
the inedible trimmings and
rapidly rotting muck that's not
fit fodder for man nor beast -
but well suited for conversion
to compost or biogas. And then
there's all those odd apples
and lumpy potatoes, too small
beets and too big lemons that
never make it to market due to
this persistent aesthetic of
what Food is supposed to look
like - bigotry of the bounty;
produce
prejudice.
But c'mon: nobody's gonna buy a
three-legged carrot. How would
you peel it? Au contraire:
French supermarket Intermarche
finds that there are ready
markets for inglorious
groceries. A restaurant in
Greenwich Village
temporarily reinvented
itself as wastED
and
gloried in feeding the kale
ribs and potato peels to
their high-end patrons. And
in Washington D.C, two
college kids, er,
students
, have
started MISFIT
Juicery to turn misshapen
fruits and veggies into
their sought-after bottled
juice blends: their motto:
Drink Ugly
Produce.
Conversion technology platforms
include the microbial
approaches, the thermal
treatments, and yes, the
kinetic
processing systems.
Kinetics: the carefully
combined acts of selecting,
collecting, washing, grinding,
squishing, spinning, and
separating that can turn food
nightmares into salable food
goods. To actually manage the
burgeoning wall of food waste,
we need to recover what we can
from the perfectly acceptable,
wholesome and nutritious, yet
cosmetically disadvantaged
produce and make sure it gets
used as Food. Some, we simply
need to intercept, collect,
wash, and distribute to people
(and other critters) that are
hungry. Lots more can be
kinetically processed into haut
cuisine, or at least,
Juice.
Right now in the United
Kingdom, people are starting to
worry that there might not be
enough food waste and other
rotting organics to keep their
ever-growing number of
anaerobic digesters burping up
biomethane. Before we ever get
to that oddly disturbing state
of waste conversion, let's make
sure we remember and apply our
axiom of Highest and Best Use.
Feed the hungry first,
then
the
microbes.
Hey Rube!
Details, details: when we
really try to understand
anything, it takes a lot of
work to pick apart the
minutiae, sorting what is of
high value from that of lesser
status. The European Union
tasked itself with seeing what
"indirect land use change"
means for biofuel production.
They've now capped land-based
biofuels at 7% to lessen the
environmental burden from crop
conversion to fuel, while
proclaiming waste- and
residual-sourced biofuel as
supreme. Told
ya.
This Week's Top Story
European
Parliament Supports 2nd
Generation Waste and
Residual
Biofuels
The European Parliament has
voted to put a 7% maximum cap
on land based biofuels, those
made from maize, sugar cane,
corn or rapeseed.
04/28/2015
The Week's News
Republic,
DTE and Aria Partner on
California Landfill Gas to
Energy
Facility
Republic Services, Inc has
announced a new landfill
gas-to-energy (LFGTE) project
located at Sunshine Canyon
Landfill in Sylmar near Los
Angeles, California.
05/01/2015
CEC
Schedules Workshop on IEPR
Renewable Action Plan
Progress
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
a commissioner workshop
scheduled for Monday, May 11,
2015 to discuss progress on
actions identified in the 2012
IEPR Update Renewable Action
Plan.
05/01/2015
Viridor's
Beddington EfW Plant Gets
Judicial Approval to
Proceed
Viridor has announced that the
final judicial ruling has been
issued confirming that due
process was followed by the
London Borough of Sutton when
deciding to grant planning
permission for the company’s
proposed Energy Recovery
Facility in Beddington.
04/29/2015
RSB Releases
Draft Standard for Low
Indirect Impact iLUC
Biofuels
The Roundtable on Sustainable
Biomaterials (RSB) has released
the draft “Low iLUC Risk
Biomass Criteria and Compliance
Indicators.”
04/29/2015
Global
Bioenergies Receives Tech40
Designation from French
Ministry
France headquartered Global
Bioenergies reports that it has
been selected as only one of
two French companies in the
field of biotechnology to
receive the Tech40 designation.
04/28/2015
Bio Base
Europe Pilot Plant to
Celebrate 5 Years, Dedicate
New
Bioreactors
Bio Base Europe has released an
invitation to attend the
organization's celebration of 5
years of Bio Base Europe Pilot
Plant and the Inauguration of
15,000 Liter Bioreactors.
04/28/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
05/21/2015: Proposals to
City of Palo Alto for
Renewable Electric
Power
The City of Palo Alto,
California has released a
Request for Proposals RFP
156876 to provide electric
power generated by renewable
resources to meet the City’s
long-term renewable portfolio
needs.
04/29/2015
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