Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 39,
September 28,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
A mentor once told me that a
weed is just a plant out of
place. By extension then, a
Waste is a resource out of
place. When those out-of-place
resources are “organics” (you
know, from plants and animals),
we get excess biomass. Throwing
organic resources into a dump
is certainly bad enough,
wasting the water they contain
makes the loss worse
yet.
When excess biomass meets a
spark, too often we get
catastrophe. The US Forest
Service spent more money this
year on fighting fires fueled
by excess biomass than on all
other forest activities. In the
Pacific West, it seems all
social and environmental
factors are conspiring against
those who live within the
"WUI", the Wildland-Urban
Interface, and we are shaking
in our community boots as
raging firestorms eat up
forests, communities, and
lives. Besides the immediate
need for an outpouring of care
for those suffering from these
conflagrations, we can and must
do more to reduce future
catastrophes.
Biomass is bulky and hard to
handle, adding cost to every
step in that Zero Waste pathway
from waste back to resource.
Fortunately, smart folks find
ways to manage huge amounts of
biomass, and are willing to
share. Check out the Hazardous
Fuels Reduction demos being
staged over the next couple
months in California, hands-on
sessions to show just how
efficiently new tools and
methods can reduce the risk and
increase availability of
biomass-as-resource.
Some state support is also on
the near horizon. Changes in
California's waste management
regulations will soon make it
easier to set up commercial and
municipal chipping and grinding
projects to turn the too-dense
understory, roadside
vegetation, and the mountains
of tree-trimmings into mulch, a
useable basic organic material.
Mulch is good; compost is
better, but then we’re back in
the permitting
miasma.
Easy mulch regulations balanced
against stiff composting
regulations are combined with
the general lack of standards
to distinguish between the two.
This can result in the
generation of low-grade
organics to flood the market,
while ensuring that refined,
certified product is much less
available. Each solution breeds
other problems. We will all
need to apply careful thought
when applying
questionably-sourced organics
to build water-holding healthy
soils. What goes into the dirt
comes back in the
lettuce.
Hey Rube!
National
Labs in the US are
participating in a Smarts
Give-Away, the Small Business
Voucher Program that offers
federally-sponsored knowledge
to small commercial
enterprises. Some of the
current target is on converting
organics. Step up, and make use
of this government
research.
This Week's Extra
Reading
Biffa
Releases Report on UK's
Residual Waste Treatment
Needs
Recycling and waste management
company Biffa assesses United
Kingdom's (UK) residual waste
treatment needs, and concludes
that market forces will lead to
a natural balance of capacity.
09/23/2015
This Week's Top Story
B&W
Contracts to Design, Build,
Operate Waste Wood Biomass
Plant in
UK
Babcock & Wilcox
Enterprises, Inc (B&W) has
announced that the joint
venture that includes its
Denmark-based subsidiary,
Babcock & Wilcox Vølund
A/S, has been awarded a
contract to design and build
the Teesside Renewable Energy
Plant near Middlesbrough,
England.
09/21/2015
The Week's News
Third Annual
National Bioenergy Day Will
Be Held on October 21,
2015
National Bioenergy Day (NBD)
2015 will be held Wednesday,
October 21, 2015 (in the middle
of Forest Products Week).
09/25/2015
California
Re-adopts Low Carbon Fuel
Standard Following Court
Challenge
The California Air Resources
Board (CARB) has re-adopted a
Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
that requires a 10 percent
reduction by 2020 in the carbon
intensity of transportation
fuels.
09/25/2015
Hazardous
Fuels Reduction
Demonstrations Scheduled in
California
The USDA Forest Service, the
University of California (UC)
Berkeley Center for Forestry
and numerous industry
representatives are sponsoring
a series of free hazardous
fuels treatment demonstrations
(demos) in central and southern
California.
09/24/2015
Amyris
Announces $35M Technology
Investment Agreement With
DARPA
California based Amyris, Inc
has announced a multi-year,
Technology Investment Agreement
(TIA) worth up to $35 million
with the US Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency's
(DARPA) Biological Technologies
Office.
09/23/2015
Wood
Products Industry Introduces
Online Reuse Wood
Directory
The American Wood Council (AWC)
and Canadian Wood Council (CWC)
have partnered with Building
Materials Reuse Association
(BMRA) to develop an online
North American directory
outlining reuse and recycling
options for wood and wood
products, the ReuseWood.org web
service.
09/23/2015
China Looks
to Algenol’s Technology to
Reduce Rising Global CO2
Levels
Florida, US-based Algenol LLC
has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with South
China’s Fujian Zhongyuan New
Energy Company, Ltd (ZYNE) to
develop projects throughout
Southern China, utilizing
carbon emissions to create
renewable fuels.
09/23/6015
Estover
Energy Secures Financing for
Northumberland Biomass CHP
Plant
United Kingdom (UK) based
Estover Energy Ltd has received
financing for construction of
its £138m 27.7MWe biomass
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
plant in Cramlington,
Northumberland.
09/22/2015
WM Phoenix
Open Golf Tournament
Achieves Zero Waste for 3rd
Time
Waste Management (WM) has
announced that the 2015 Waste
Management Phoenix Open (WMPO)
golf tournament diverted 100
percent of event waste away
from landfills for the third
consecutive year.
09/22/2015
Nidera Earns
RSB Certification For
Biodiesel from Used Cooking
Oil
The Netherlands based Nidera
B.V. has earned the Roundtable
on Sustainable Biomaterials
(RSB) certification for the
production and trading of
biofuels from used cooking oil.
09/22/2015
CEC Hosts
'Energizing California’s
Communities with Renewables'
Workshops
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) is hosting a
series of seven workshops
statewide on 'Energizing
California's Communities with
Renewables' that focus on
opportunities to develop
community-scale renewable
energy projects designed to
address the specific needs of
each region.
09/21/2015
Tyromer
Opens Devulcanization Plant
in Canada to Recycle Waste
Tires
Tyromer Inc has announced the
opening of Tyromer Waterloo,
its groundbreaking facility to
recycle scrap tire rubber and
manage scrap tire waste.
09/21/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
10/23/2015: Applications for
DOE's Small Business Voucher
Pilot Round
1
As part of the Small Business
Vouchers (SBV) Pilot to help
advance the clean energy
economy, the US Department of
Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy
Efficiency & Renewable
Energy (EERE) is funding up to
$20 million worth of vouchers
to eligible small businesses.
09/24/2015
Due
10/23/2015: Proposals for
Services for Nevada County
Biomass
Facilities
The Fire Safe Council of Nevada
County (FSCNC) has released a
Request for Proposals (RFP) for
Services for Site Planning and
Environmental Documentation for
Conditional Use Permitting for
the Nevada County and
Camptonville Biomass Energy
Facilities, Bid #2015-Biomass.
09/22/2015
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