Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume VI, Issue 17, May 2,
2016
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Ah, dear readers – global
change is in the wind. And that
breeze is blowin' strong
against this bulwark of the
Waste Conversion realm, Teru
Talk. As of this issue, we are
taking a much needed hiatus.
You see, we have become so
enthused and inspired by
implementing our on-going move
of the Teru Talk headquarters
that we have taken on a much
larger task: moving our
data.
For Teru Talk has not only been
reporting upon the surges and
declines in the global pursuit
of sane waste management for
resource recovery, we have been
taking digital notes. We've
built deep, detailed,
constantly maintained profiles
of the companies, technologies,
and projects that struggle to
turn costly residues back into
valuable commodities of energy,
fuels, and foundation
chemicals. We've been following
the economies, plus and the
minus, that result from and
impinge upon that progression
from new stuff to old stuff,
and back to new stuff
again.
We have been keeping watch over
the agencies internationally
that engage in oversight of
this never-ending pursuit,
selectively salving on kudos or
reprimanding for overt
silliness. Always a gnarly
task, we have also been
ferreting out and following the
bright lights in our global
labs and institutions that can
provide the dramatic leaps
forward. More pleasantly, we
have been tracking the
associations, trusts, and
foundations that support,
guide, and often drive forward
these diverse aspects of the
Circular Resource Flow. … and
all the while, taking digital
notes …
We've cleaned the offices and
boxed up the warehouse,
recycling the remaining paper
files in favor of the All
Digital approach. Now, we must
attend to proper data
management, lest we simply get
bowled over too completely to
get back up. It's one thing to
collect cardboard boxes for
binders and books; it is a
wholly different challenge to
identify, acquire, and populate
a new data management
infrastructure. O, Trash: how
do we convert thee? Let us
count the ways – now, let's
stare the Data Beast in the maw
and count its teeth together,
shall we?
As of May Day 2016, we are
maintaining a global 'live
catalogue' of 2,897 digital
profiles, some freshly minted,
some old enough to grow moss.
In the broad Core Conversion
Technologies category right
now, we're tracking around 400
companies practicing the art
and science of Anaerobic
Digestion, 50 plus focused on
aerobic digestion (often called
composting) and another 100 or
so whose microbes work
oxygenated, non-oxygenated or
both. Combining the thermal
conversion subcategories –
plasma, gasification,
pyrolysis, torrefaction,
super-critical fluids and a
smattering of others - adds 700
or so entrants. Then there are
perhaps another 600 in the
Kinetics / Chemical Core
Conversion super-category –
processing pathways that dance
back and forth between acting
as primary or ancillary
conversion mechanism. Here, we
find the dramatic and
overlapping fields of
Catalytics and Enzymatics, the
more mundane yet crucial tool
kits for Cavitation,
Hydrolysis, and Electrolysis, a
dozen or so using the chemistry
of Cementiteous Encapsulation
especially for carbon
sequestration, even two
entrants advancing the obscure
magic of the Gravity Pressure
Vessel. And on, and on
…
We say 'Global' but who can
watch everything? Our coverage
is strong in the US, not too
bad in all of North America,
and pitifully inadequate South
of the Border. Western Europe,
the UK, and the Nordic region
get the lion's share of our
non-US attention, but boy, is
it difficult to really
understand that crash-course in
waste management that India is
now undergoing! The African
Continent is begging for
attention. We've got a decent
yet modest track for Japan and
all of Micronesia, but we'll
need another lifetime to
understand China, I'm
afraid.
We've
been advised that we're
wrangling about the same amount
of detail as a large community
hospital, and like the medical
profession, we are learning by
doing what Big Data means -
that information varies by the
4 Vs: its Volume, Variety,
Velocity and Veracity. Our
time- and location-tagged
profiles hit all the V-buttons.
To adequately manage and
analyze this mountain we need a
new data management platform
that can warehouse,
auto-update, sort, contrast and
compare, and report. We also
need some New Smarts, as our
own smarts seem woefully
ill-equipped to puzzle this
out. We have, however made
significant progress in finding
the Tools and the Teams. Now we
need to take the Time to get
this all reorganized, so are
calling Time
Out.
Hey Rube!
Oh, never
fear: we're still here,
monitoring the flow and
maintaining the profiles – this
retrofit is rather like fixing
the aircraft while in
mid-flight. We'll send out an
occasional blitz to remind you
we are still alive and well, if
Under Reconstruction. But our
Newsletter in particular will
take a hiatus. You already know
where Teru Talk resides,
and www.terutalk.com
will
remain online so don't be
strangers – if nothing else,
stop by to say Hi. If you
have something to add to our
data mountain please send a
quick note, and know this
too will be inscribed on the
electronic tally. But if you
have crucial, experiential
knowledge specific to making
this transition from just a
whole lotta detail into
managing, analyzing and
monetizing Big Data,
mid-flight, we're all ears,
digitally speaking. So until
we surface again: our
kindest regards, loyal
readers.
The Week's Top Story
Renewable
Energy Group Holds Ribbon
Cutting for Wisconsin
Biorefinery
Renewable Energy Group, Inc
(REG) celebrated the formal
opening of the newest addition
to its fleet of biorefineries
Tuesday with a ribbon cutting
at REG Madison in DeForest,
Wisconsin, and also announced
upgrades to the plant.
04/26/2016
The Week's News
NIB Funds
Novozymes' Biomass
Conversion and Enzymatic
Research
Nordic Investment Bank (NIB)
and Danish biotech company
Novozymes A/S have signed a
ten-year loan agreement that is
the equivalent of EUR 70
million in DKK to finance
research in bio-innovation
technology during 2016–2018.
04/27/2016
EC Funds
LEILAC to Demonstrate Calix
Carbon Capture
Technology
The LEILAC (Low Emissions
Intensity Lime And Cement)
consortium has successfully
secured €12 million in funding
over five years from the
European Commission (EC)
Horizon 2020 Grant program.
04/27/2016
CalRecycle
Schedules Food Waste
Prevention and Rescue
Workshop
The California Department of
Resources and Recycling
(CalRecycle) will host a public
workshop on Tuesday, May 24,
2016 between 1:30 and 4:00pm in
Sacramento to discuss the
proposed criteria for the new
Food Waste Prevention Grant
Program (FY16-17).
04/26/2016
CTi's
Bio-Diesel Nano Reactor
System Sells to South
American
Refinery
Cavitation Technologies, Inc
(CTi) has announced that Desmet
Ballestra Group, CTi's
strategic partner since 2010,
has entered into a new sales
agreement with a bio-diesel
refinery in South America.
04/26/2016
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