Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 20, May 18,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"TerĂº")
Teru's Trash Talk
Some time ago, California's
Governor directed the state
waste management agency toward
a "feedstock driven, technology
neutral" approach to turning
wastes back into goods. That
directive seemed pretty clear,
but many folks need a better
explanation as to how it's all
supposed to work. It is a
complex task: what we call
"trash" contains bits and
clumps of everything we ever
made anywhere, and that's one
diverse flow of feedstock to
separate.
Now, as to those Technologies
we're supposed to be so neutral
about. There's a whole world of
technical processing systems
available out there, and more
very day, capable of converting
one kind of waste or another
into useful resources. There
are three main approaches; you
can tell them apart by the
primary hat-trick each uses to
accomplish that take-apart
work.
First there are techy platforms
that employ Kinetic Energy.
They crush, smash, grind, chip,
and otherwise mangle detritus
to break it down into the
foundation raw materials needed
to make back into commodities.
We can do that with wood: we
turn trees to logs, into
firewood or lumber, or into
wood chips and fuel pellets.
Kinetic energy is the physical
motive force generated due to
motion, the force of one mass
used against another to create
friction. Mind thy thumbs
though: when you beat on
something enough, it breaks
into fragments. When you push
something hard enough,
it will
fall
over.
Next, we can lump together a
whole range technologies into
biological processing tools.
Ever made beer? Those microbial
yeasty beasties can really rip
into sugary organics, and Man
has been figuring out how to
harness the myriad living
creatures of the microbial and
macro-biotic (think worms)
world for good or bad since,
well, since man began. By now,
we really
know how
to beat those bugs into
submission. We can make them
eat just about anything we
might pick out of the trash
heap. We can then "culture"
them to digest and spit out
almost any sort of bio-material
or bio-fuel we might need. Just
remember: we too are simply
future feedstock for the bugs
and worms.
Feel that warm sunshine? That's
Thermal Energy. Used right,
thermal conversion can take
apart anything, all the way to
down to and beyond the very
atoms of which things were
constructed in the first place.
Appropriately, it is with
the
degree
of
thermal energy
application one must be
most concerned. You must
manage the temperature,
control the time in the
cooker (called "retention
time") and meter the
oxygen available, whether
you are cooking dinner
over a pit fire or using
plasma to turn sewage
sludge into a fuel gas
replacement for acetylene
in a metal cutting torch.
Yes, fire is both
wonderful and dangerous,
as are most useful
tools.
First we
do the dirty work of collecting
and separating the trash. Then
we select a waste type as
feedstock, let's say "food
waste". Finally, we use the
best waste conversion tool-set
available, more often a
combination of platforms. But
no matter how well built the
system, it's just a wreck
waiting to happen in the wrong
hands. It takes both the proper
tool and competent operation to
be effective at accomplishing
clean, sane, economical
waste-sourced resource
recovery.
Hey Rube!
As the
concepts of Zero Waste and the
Circular Economy become part of
our global mind-set, this
business of matching feedstock
to the proper tools and their
trained operators becomes all
the more critical. These are
the examples Teru hunts: they
become the subjects of our
news.
This Week's Extra
Reading
TERU's new
Focus Report on European
Waste Management and the
Circular Economy
presents an EU Op Ed
identifying private sector
investment as the
key.
This Week's Top Story
Joule’s
CO2-Recycled Ethanol Meets
US and European
Specifications
Massachusetts company Joule
Unlimited, Inc has announced
the successful results from
third-party testing of its
ethanol fuel, setting the stage
to obtain certification for
commercial use.
05/11/2015
The Week's News
Energy
Recovery Technology Ships
for Mirfa Power Plant in Abu
Dhabi
Recovering the energy from
wasted pressure isn't something
often included in our news, but
is an important factor in
overall system efficiency.
05/15/2015
Dyadic
Receives Funding for Role in
New Advanced Biofuels
Project
Florida based Dyadic
International, Inc has
announced that its subsidiary
Dyadic Netherlands B.V. (Dyadic
Netherlands) will work in
collaboration with Compagnie
Industrielle de Matiere
Vegetale ("CIMV") and five
other industry partners on the
2G BIOPIC projecf.
05/15/2015
EPA
Recognizes Chumash Casino
Resort for Zero Waste and
Food
Recovery
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash
Indians and the Chumash Casino
Resort were recognized by the
US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) with the 2014 Food
Recovery Challenge certificate
of achievement for its zero
waste efforts.
05/15/2015
BioNitrogen
Contracts with Air Liquide
for Plant Air and Gas
Requirements
BioNitrogen Holdings Corp has
announced that it has reached a
multi-plant agreement with Air
Liquide Industrial US starting
with collaboration on all the
air and gas requirements for
the Hendry County plant.
05/14/2015
New Funding
Available for MRF Quality
Testing Infrastructure
Reporting
Zero Waste Scotland has
announced a new fund available
to Material Recovery Facility
(MRF) operators located in
Scotland to meet new reporting
requirements.
05/14/2015
VTT Gasifies
Lignocellulosic Biomass for
Pure Industrial
Chemicals
VTT Technical Research Centre
of Finland Ltd has demonstrated
that lignocellulosic biomass
can be successfully converted
into pure BTX chemicals:
benzene, toluene and xylene.
05/13/2015
BDI
BioEnergy Successfully
Completes RetroFit of
Biodiesel Plant in
Spain
BDI – BioEnergy International
AG has announced the successful
completion of the expansion of
a BioDiesel plant in Spain.
05/13/2015
Major Waste
to Energy Company Will
Formally Test MagneGas®
Fuel
MagneGas Corporation has
announced that a major waste to
energy (WtE) company with 51
existing operating facilities
processing solid waste into
renewable energy has requested
formal testing of MagneGas® as
an immediate replacement to
acetylene.
05/11/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
06/30/2015: Comments to CEC
for Emerging Opportunities
Solicitation
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has issued a
Request for Information (RFI)
to determine if there are areas
in need of funding which have
not been previously addressed
by the Alternative and
Renewable Fuel and Vehicle
Technology Program (ARFVTP).
05/13/2015
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