Teru Talk Newsletter

Teru's Trash Talk

On one side we've got orders to keep all Organics (you know: plant and animal left-overs) out of the landfills, by such and such a date. Now on the other side, California's Governor has ordered all agencies to remove the Fuel Loading (mostly dead and dying trees) to cut forest fire risk. Hey, isn't that bound to generate Mountains of Biomass? Agreed: food waste and landscape trimmings have no business being buried in dumps. And doubly agreed: something has to change, to curb these catastrophic Western Woodlands infernos. But what really can be done with all this stuff, and how in the world did we get ourselves into this Bio-Mess in the first place?

Governor Brown called out some immediate solutions to the wildfire threat in last Friday's Emergency Proclamation. But then he went a lot further and put his gubernatorial finger on some of the underlying log-jams (pun intended) that have stymied large scale forest fire fuel loading reduction for decades. Surprise: California's own check-and-balance regulatory structure is largely to blame. There are now so many Checks on science-based land management that everything is Out of Balance. Why? Because we asked for it.

In a nation where Do No Harm has become Don't Offend Anyone, where a few loud-mouths can legally push a lop-sided Enviro-Agenda right down the communal throat of the Invisible Majority, California has out-done herself. This year, all the agency money California set aside for maintaining its precious forests, woodlands, and grasslands was spent on fighting fires; the state 'burnt through' all of that  fund well before the fire season ended. It's all about Excess Organic Resources, but this Forest Fire biomass problem is quite different from why we put food waste in dumps. For Dumped Organics, at least we can claim we were aiming at Basic Sanitation. When it comes to our forests, we've been … "protecting" them and the wildlife in them from harm. How's that enviro-political approach been working for us? The Governor says, not so well.

On to the next  problem: we can keep the quick-rotting stuff out of the landfills, and we can remove and store the quick-burning stuff from the forests. This seems a lot like diverting a river into a tea-cup. Very quickly now, we must figure out what to do with all the excess biomass resources. Once again, The Governor points to the basic problem, the underlying regulatory blockade we all have allowed to be constructed. Now with one Proclamation, issued histrionically just one day before All Hallow's Eve, Governor Brown has essentially done away with the nonsense. His stated legal position: we are now at extreme risk to human life and property.

It's a double whammy. We have a Drought Emergency and this has exacerbated a Wildfire Emergency. For those of you who question that, dead trees burn much hotter and faster than live trees. Both problems come in part from Nature, part from man's actions and inactions. We may not be able to lay down the law for Mother Nature, but we can change our own habits. Knowing people are not fond of the inconvenience of Change, Governor Brown has once again clarified the state's course, and ordered the necessary Bio-Mess Management.

Hey Rube!

Quick! Book a jet, pay your registration on-line and come to Rancho Cordova this Wednesday and Thursday for the 10th Annual California Bioresources Alliance Symposium. Mulch samples! Compost samples! Biochar samples! Great venue, with doors and tables and everything! Two days just jam-packed with details about what to do with all the organics we’re going to be diverting from our landfills, and removing from our over-burdened forests! Don’t miss lots of Smart People talking about Building Healthy Soils! Oh, yeah – and Teru will be there too …   

This Week's Top Story

Construction Begins on Advanced 21.5 MWe Ince Biomass Plant at Protos

CoGen Limited (CoGen) has announced completion of project financing and the onset of construction of Ince Bio Power, the 21.5MWe Waste Biomass facility at Protos, formerly known as Ince Park, in Cheshire, United Kingdom. 10/30/2015

The Week's News

California Governor Proclaims Tree Mortality State of Emergency

Recognizing a four-year record drought, California Governor Jerry Brown has proclaimed a State of Emergency that broadens his 2014 drought emergency proclamation. 10/30/2015

Wheelabrator is Issued Environmental Permit for Deeside EfW Facility

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has issued an environmental permit to Wheelabrator Technologies Inc for an energy from waste (EfW) facility in Deeside, Flintshire. 10/30/2015

Ferrybridge Multifuel 2 Power Station Project Receives Planning Consent

Multifuel Energy Ltd (MEL) has announced the Secretary of State for the Department of Climate Change's decision to grant planning consent for the Ferrybridge Multifuel 2 (FM2) project in West Yorkshire. 10/29/2015

IB2Market Project Launched to Bring New Biobased Products to the Market

Belgian organization Bio Base Europe (BBE) has announced its partnership in the launch of IB2Market, a public project funded by the 7th Framework Program of the European Union. 10/29/2015

BDI – BioEnergy and Heineken Open World's First Major Green Brewery

BDI – BioEnergy International AG has announced that the last milestone towards carbon neutrality as part of Heineken's sustainability initiative "Brewing a better World" was laid yesterday with the formal opening of the brewery Göss' spent-grain fermentation plant. 10/29/2015

Webinar Scheduled on EPA's Proposed Landfill Methane Regulations

A free webinar scheduled for November 10, 2015 entitled Landfill Methane: Capture for Cash, Compliance & Clean Air is being sponsored by the International Biomass Conference and Expo and hosted by BBI International's Biomass Magazine. 10/28/2015

PHGE Schedules Groundbreaking for Tennessee Renewable Energy Facility

PHG Energy (PHGE) has scheduled a November 12, 2015 groundbreaking ceremony for the Lebanon, Tennessee waste-to-energy gasification facility on the grounds of the Lebanon Wastewater Treatment Plant. 10/28/2015

Stora Enso Builds Biomaterials Demonstration Plant and US HQ in Louisiana

Finnish pulp, paper and biomaterials company Stora Enso has announced construction of its new US headquarters and biomaterials demonstration and market development plant in Raceland, Louisiana. 10/27/2015

BMW South Africa Plant Is Now Powered with Manure and Organic Waste

BMW South Africa has announced that it received the first green energy at its Rosslyn plant in Pretoria on October 10, 2015. 10/27/2015

RSB Certifies 1st Smallholder Biomass Supply Project in Southeast Asia

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials has announced certification of the first Smallholder Project in Southeast Asia. Biomass Supplies Ltd, a subsidiary of the Biomass Group, coordinates collection of biomass residuals in Sri Lanka. 10/26/2015

USDA Funds Over 1,100 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding loans and grants to help more than 1,100 rural small businesses and agricultural producers reduce energy usage and costs in their operations. 10/26/2015

The Week's Action Items

Due 11/23/2015: Proposals to CEC for Technical Services for EPIC Program

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released Solicitation #RFP-15-318 - Technical Assistance for the Energy Research and Development Division EPIC Program. 10/27/2015