Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 28, July
13,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"TerĂº")
Teru's Trash Talk
Input, Process, Output: those
are the Big Three parts of any
biorefinery, including for the
sake of argument, our own
bodies. And like our bodies, it
really isn’t a good idea to eat
only one kind of Input.
Biorefineries need a rounded
diet, too. But look around any
community: the waste and
biomass residuals that are
available as Input, the
“opportunity feedstock” others
are currently paying to throw
away, more than likely are not
already in a form that is
easily consumed, converted, and
remanufactured into new goods.
The tendency has been to site a
facility based on availability
of one easy cheap abundant
Input. Logic says we’ll
eventually run out of Cheap and
Easy.
If you have no teeth, you can't
effectively chew meat or raw
vegetables, even if that is the
cheap food abundantly
available. If an anaerobic
digestion based biorefinery
lacks front-end grinders and
cell wall splitting systems,
the chunks are bigger than the
bugs that do the work and
everything, uh, backs up. Not
to belabor the point,
but
both
ends of a
biorefinery (human or
otherwise) have to be
functional, not just the
parts in the middle. For
biorefineries, that
back-end functionality
needs Market Draw,
economical off-takes for
the diverse products.
That means the
Biorefinery Output needs
to match regional Market
specifications, and that
takes “post-processing” –
some sort of reforming
and refining. Find a new
market for your output,
then acquire and
integrate the back-end
subsystems that can
complete the processing
to meet those
specifications.
We have entered a stage of
waste conversion and
biorefinery development where
the commercialization and
resulting broader availability
of front and back end bolt-on
subsystems are on the rise. If
we are to make the most of a
region’s diverse opportunity
feedstock, and if we are to
meet the diverse needs of the
region’s many market draws, we
need a whole suite of tightly
integrated pre-, core and
post-conversion processes: we
need a multi-technology
Process
Train
specifically
designed to convert the
Input into Output well
suited to the
region.
Plan your Input-Process-Output
to fit the community, and
adjust as the community
changes. In comes a new food
processing plant, and you can
take food waste their process
puts out. If you’ve got extra
goo your own Process Train
can’t turn back into gold,
another operation might need
your waste as their feedstock.
We call that Industrial
Synergy, where your output is
my input. Sounds rather
"circular", doesn't
it?
"But
there are too many moving
parts!" Yeah, well –
communities themselves are
inherently complex and
constantly in a state of flux.
We find a way to live within
them, or we move on. It only
stands to reason that the waste
conversion and resource
recovery tool sets that fit and
function within them will need
to follow that same principal
of complex, flexible
integration.
Hey Rube!
This week's news covers just
about every aspect of waste
conversion for resource
recovery. We’ve got commercial
scale examples of waste heat to
power, biomass heating, plastic
waste conversion for hydrogen
recovery. Financial companies,
agencies, and international
organizations have stepped up,
providing support for even the
earliest stages of development,
and releasing Think Tank tools
and deep-dive reports to help
plan, build and maintain that
crucial complex, flexible
integration. What we are
running out of are
Excuses.
This Week's Extra
Reading
Over 15% of
NYSERDA's recent NY Prize
awards went to waste and
biomass sourced energy
projects. That may not seem
like much, but only a few years
ago they would not have even
been considered. Read Teru's
new
Focus Report
and see what
you think.
This Week's Top Story
ElectraTherm
Commissions First 'Radiator
with a
Payback'
Nevada based ElectraTherm has
partnered with the US
Department of Defense (DoD) to
commission the first
fully-integrated stationary
engine and waste heat to power
generator.
07/08/2015
The Week's News
Industry
Groups Fund Study to Improve
Efficiencies in Recycling
Facilities
Five US trade associations
representing a wide range of
packaging types joined together
to commission a study to find
ways to optimize the recycling
of their packaging after it
goes into the bin or cart.
07/11/2015
IEA Releases
Bioenergy Task 34 Newsletter
on Fast
Pyrolysis
Aston University's European
Bioenergy Research Institute
(EBRI) has announced the
publication of International
Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy
Task 34 biennial newsletter.
07/10/2015
Energy from
Waste Plant in China will
Use Hitachi Zosen Inova’s
Technology
Hitachi Zosen Cooperation has
been awarded a contract by
Human Junxin Environmental
Protection Group for Changsha
City’s first Energy from Waste
(EfW) plant based on technology
of Zurich based Hitachi Zosen
Inova.
07/10/2015
New Energy
Capital Invests in Natural
Systems Utilities for Value
from
Waste
The New Energy Capital
Cleantech Infrastructure Fund
has announced its investment in
Natural Systems Utilities (NSU)
to expand opportunities to
build, own, and operate
wastewater treatment, water
reuse, organics reclamation.
and energy recovery systems in
North America.
07/10/2015
Pennsylvania
Funds Biomass Heating System
for School
Buildings
Pennsylvania's Governor Wolf
has announced that the
Commonwealth Financing
Authority approved funding to
support a new Alternative and
Clean Energy (ACE) project with
an investment of $500,000 in
Clearfield County.
07/10/2015
Showa Denko
Completes Waste Plastic
Gasification Facility
Expansion
Japanese company Showa Denko
(SDK) has announced completion
of the expansion of its
used-plastic gasification
facility at the Kawasaki Plant
for production of ammonia from
waste plastic.
07/08/2015
2015 BCAP
Webinar Scheduled for
Biomass Material Project
Owners
The University of California
(UC) Berkeley Wood Resources
Group in collaboration with the
US Forest Service Region 5, the
California State Farm Services
Agency Office, and California
office of the Bureau of Land
Management will host a webinar
overview of the USDA Biomass
Crop Assistance Program (BCAP).
07/08/2015
UK
Environment Agency Releases
Report on Growth of Refuse
Derived
Fuels
The United Kingdom (UK) has
released a new report that
discusses the factors behind
the sudden emergence and growth
of exports of refuse derived
fuel (RDF) from England.
07/07/2015
IRENA
Launches INSPIRE Platform to
Support Renewable
Energy
The International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) has
announced the launch of the
International Standards and
Patents in Renewable Energy
(INSPIRE), a new online
platform to help users access
400 international standards and
more than 2 million patents for
renewable energy technologies.
07/07/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
08/07/2015: Applications for
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable
Funding
The Minnesota Department of
Commerce (MnDOC) is soliciting
proposals from local government
agencies in Minnesota that are
seeking low-cost, long-term
capital to finance community
energy efficiency and renewable
energy system projects.
07/11/2015
Due
10/01/2015: USDA Loan Apps
for
Biorefineries/Bio-Product
Manufacturing
The US Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Rural
Business-Cooperative Service is
requesting applications for
funds that are available under
the Biorefinery, Renewable
Chemical, and Biobased Product
Manufacturing Assistance
Program (Program), formerly the
Biorefinery Assistance Program.
07/10/2015
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