Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 5, February
2,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Ahhh - thermal waste conversion
is indeed a "heated" topic,
considering the response to
last week's Trash Talk. Folks
were a bit shy about actually
leaving public comments on the
website, preferring to send us
direct messages in the hopes
that their comments wouldn't
come back around and bite them
in their … uh, paycheck. But
hey, that's fine: we're not
bashful.
Teru's rant: California's
agency responsible for guiding
Waste Management, the
Department of Recycling and
Resource Recovery (CalRecycle),
has not lived up to their
charge nor to the Governor's
edict to even-handedly provide
a feedstock driven,
technology neutral
waste
conversion playing
field.
Some say: "Nay, CalRecycle will
indeed permit thermal waste
conversion - never has the
agency denied such a permit!"
Others comment: "Point out the
guilty culprits behind this
debacle!" We hear, "Thermal
waste conversion technologies
aren't Clean!" but - how would
we know with so few examples
allowed, and anyway: Clean,
compared to what? "Thermal
waste conversion isn't
Economical!" Yeah - take away
all their support and give it
to cooler technologies, it's
gonna have that affect. Maybe
our agencies should just make
sure waste conversion operators
and their equipment are simply
within environmental standards
regardless of the technology,
and then let an unfettered
marketplace
decide.
It's a shame that what agency
assistance that thermal
conversion developers find must
come from Energy and Air, as if
there is no inherent Waste
Management social benefit.
Despite the definition of state
Recycling, our CalRecycle
continues to isolate
thermal
conversion as
ineligible for Recycling
support. Here's the thing about
Market Access: if you want to
fix a race, you let everyone
run. Then you just grease the
skids for those you prefer, and
require those you don't like to
carry a bag of
rocks.
Teru Talk is pretty careful to
limit our name calling to
Public Agencies, not
individuals. People come and
go, but Politics and Policy,
Regulations and Law have a
sticky way of hanging around.
If you want to get at the roots
of this mess, you need look
back more than a decade to
greed-based bias insinuating
unscientific criteria within
our guiding Renewables laws.
Building on an infirm base is
dangerous; not correcting the
present problem is
inexcusable.
Consider
the entire Recycling and
Resource Recovery gamut. Strip
away every arbitrary
unscientific label, then see
where we have artificially
tipped the balance in favor of
a few to the detriment of many
waste conversion technologic
approaches. If you still insist
on pointing fingers, follow the
Money back to see who benefits
from each insidious economic
imbalance. Or, you could just
get busy and correct the
problem. Those whose pockets
are cut the deepest will most
assuredly step forward in
vociferous
protest.
Hey Rube!
The
United Nations has declared
2015 as the International Year
of Soils. It is too bad that
conversion of biomass residuals
to biochar, one of the most
important contributors to soil
health, has to rely on
pyrolysis.
This form of
thermal
conversion
falls
into the Black Hole of
Ineligibility if you are
seeking a California Recycling
Market Development Zone
support.
This Week's Top
Stories
Stobart
Signs 14-Yr Supply Contract
for 40MWe Biomass Plant in
Wales
Stobart Group Ltd has signed a
14-year index-linked agreement
with Glennmont Partners to
supply fuel for a proposed
40MWe waste wood-fuelled
biomass plant near Margam,
South Wales.
01/28/2015
B&W
Vølund Contracts to
Construct 40MWe Biomass
Plant in
Wales
The North Carolina
headquartered Babcock &
Wilcox Company has announced
that its Denmark-based
subsidiary, Babcock &
Wilcox Vølund A/S, has been
awarded contracts by Margam
Green Energy Ltd. for more than
$200 million to engineer,
procure, and operate a
state-of-the-art biomass power
plant in Margam, Wales.
01/28/2015
The Week's News
Biomass
Innovation Centre to Host
Bioeconomy Strategy
Consultation
Series
The Biomass Innovation Centre
(BIC) of Nipissing University,
Ontario, Canada has scheduled a
series of six half-day regional
consultation sessions in
February and March addressing
development of the Northern
Ontario Bioeconomy Strategy.
01/30/2015
AnaeCo
Granted Two Australian
Patents for DiCOM
Bioconversion
Process
Australia based AnaeCo Limited
has announced receipt of
official notification of the
issuance of two new patents by
the Australian Patent Office.
01/30/2015
Vencor
International Brings First
Torrefaction Machine
Online
Colorado based Vencor
International, Inc has
announced that the first
torrefaction unit utilizing
recently acquired technology
has been completed and is now
online.
01/30/2015
SeAB Energy
Selected by RBS Innovation
Gateway for Micro-AD
Trial
United Kingdom (UK) based SeAB
Energy Ltd successfully pitched
its patented approach to
anaerobic digestion to the
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
and was awarded the opportunity
to place its micro-scale system
within the RBS' Innovation
Gateway for real-time testing.
01/30/2015
UN Declares
2015 as International Year
of Soils, IBI Highlights
Biochar
The 68th United Nations General
Assembly passed Resolution
A/RES/68/232, officially
declaring 2015 as the
International Year of Soils
(IYS), and nominating the UN's
Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) for program
implementation with governments
and the United Nations
Convention to Combat
Desertification.
01/30/2015
RSB Launches
Public Consultation on
P&Cs for Biomaterials
Certification
The Switzerland based
Roundtable on Sustainable
Biomaterials (RSB) has
announced that the 60-day
public consultation is open for
revision of the Principles
& Criteria (P&Cs), the
core of the RSB certification
system for sustainable
production of biomass and
biomaterials.
01/28/2015
Greenbelt
Resources to Manufacture
EcoPAS Vapor-Capture
System
Paso Robles, California based
Greenbelt Resources Corporation
has announced its selection by
Pasadena company EcoPAS LLC to
manufacture the company's
passive alcohol capture system
(PAS) for recovery of ethanol
vapor from wineries.
01/28/2015
Innovate UK
to Host Webinar for
Agri-Tech Catalyst Round 4
Funding
A networking and briefing event
exploring the United Kingdom's
recently opened Round 4 of the
£70m Agri-Tech Catalyst funding
scheme is scheduled for
February 24, 2015 in
Birmingham.
01/27/2015
City of Palo
Alto and TerraPass Partner
to Provide Carbon Offset
Program
The City of Palo Alto,
California, has contracted with
TerraPass to launch and
maintain the city's voluntary
PaloAltoGreen Gas carbon
emissions offset program for
the next three years.
01/27/2015
UPM BioVerno Renewable Diesel
Receives the Finnish Key Flag
Symbol
UPM BioVerno, UPM's renewable
wood-based diesel has received
yet another acknowledgement
when it was granted the Finnish
Key Flag Symbol.
01/26/2015
PHG Energy
Acquires MaxWest
Gasification Plant And
Patents
Tennessee based PHG Energy LLC
(PHGE) has officially acquired
multiple intellectual property
assets and a municipal
gasification plant due to the
bankruptcy of Florida-based
MaxWest Environmental Systems,
Inc.
01/26/2015
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