Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume VI, Issue
2, January 11,
2016
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
There are two main elements to
the Circular Economy: the
Technology, and the Human.
That's just as true for the
rest of our advanced
civilization as for resource
recovery. Failure is assured
when we concentrate only on one
side of that equation and lose
perspective of the other. A
gizmo may be designed with the
perfect set of electronics, but
if the operator won't RTFM (er,
read the fancy manual), the
thing won't work right. And the
best corporate intentions can't
make up for a bad system
design. Folks call this the
Human-Technology
Interface.
Engage brain, and
then
start
equipment: that's the
rule. Put a really good
operator together with an
excellent system, and
Magic can
happen. Somehow
along the circular
pathway from new stuff to
old stuff and back again,
those two key elements
have to work together for
efficient resource
recovery. We want to
Re-Invent the design of
the things we make,
Re-Think the way we buy,
use, and reuse goods, and
Re-Define what we do with
used stuff instead of
dumping it. Easier said
than done: let's visit
some catch-points along
the
path.
Styrofoam clam-shell food
containers and plastic film
shopping bags are being banned
as unsustainable, but paper
cups leak and paper bags tear.
Food keeps longer if it is
carefully wrapped, yet folks
want to see what they are
buying.
A garbage
disposal in your sink can grind
up most leftovers, but old
cooking oil and
rice-water-starch makes
Grease-Bergs that clog your
sewer line. Supermarkets may
want to put unsalable produce
in a special container destined
for their local commercial food
waste converter, but there's
that 17-year-old & 7-second
truism: the kid handling the
job in the back won't give a
bad apple more than a
seven-count before tossing
it somewhere
, so if
the store really wants proper
separation to happen there must
good training, repeated
often.
Then there's the local
Anaerobic Digester, or AD
system. The thing works because
live microbes thrive inside,
because the design siphons off
biogas before it blows up,
because somebody maintains it
each and every day. The
digester-bugs have to digest;
the operators better be on
their toes with time,
temperature, and retention.
Yes, AD works like a charm, as
long as at least as much
thought has gone into the Human
side of the equation as into
the design of the
technology.
Every step along the way, we
need to consider how those that
run things interact with the
things they run. If our
industry just focuses on the
Human-Technology Interface as
it pertains to waste conversion
for resource recovery, we will
do our part to secure a
circular materials
flow.
Our kids are smart, more
intuitive than we give 'em
credit for. They GET this
human-techy interface
conundrum; just watch them work
your cell phone. Let's make
sure that while we're
congratulating ourselves on
advanced waste conversion
technology development and
implementation, we take the
time to train the Young Humans
who will eventually run
everything.
Hey Rube!
The US Department of Energy's
2016 ARPA-E Energy Innovation
Summit in March will include a
panel on The
Human-Technology
Interface: How to Make or
Break Tech. Will you be
there?
This Week's Extra
Reading
Value of
Integrating 2nd Gen
Co-Products into 1st Gen
Ethanol
Production
Researchers in the Department
of Chemical Engineering in
Sweden's Lund University have
released findings on the
integration of first generation
ethanol production with second
generation lignocellulosic
co-production.
01/05/2016
This Week's Top Story
First US
Resource Recovery MBT
Facility Breaks Ground in
West
Virginia
Entsorga West Virginia (WV) has
announced the groundbreaking of
the first resource recovery
facility in the US to utilize
Mechanical Biological Treatment
(MBT).
01/07/2016
The Week's News
Agenda for
2016 ARPA-E Energy
Innovation Summit Is Now
Available
The US Department of Energy
(DOE) Advanced Research
Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
has hosted the annual Energy
Innovation Summit for the past
six years.
01/09/2016
Canada
Invests $4M in Development
of Next Generation Clean
Technologies
The Discovery Frontiers
initiative of the Natural
Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) has awarded a $4
million grant to a nation-wide
team for investigation and
development of three
inter-related clean energy
challenges.
01/09/2016
Rolls-Royce
Tests Confirm 50% Emissions
Reduction Using Virent
Bio-Jet
Bio-jet emissions testing by
Rolls-Royce confirmed that jet
fuels containing Virent’s
BioForm® Synthesized Aromatic
Kerosene (SAK) fuel blend
produced a 50% to 80% reduction
in particulate matter emissions
depending on engine operating
conditions as compared to
conventional jet fuel.
01/08/2016
Company
Executives Join AEE Board to
Spur Growth of Clean US
Energy
Advanced Energy Economy (AEE)
announced that executives of
seven market-leading companies
have joined its board of
directors to support the
business group's efforts to
spur the growth of secure,
clean, affordable energy in the
United States.
01/08/2016
Reverdia and
BioAmber Sign Non-Assert
Agreement on Bio-Succinic
Acid
The Netherlands based Reverdia
and Canadian company BioAmber
Inc have signed a non-assertion
(non-assert) agreement
concerning Reverdia's
Biosuccinium™ technology.
01/07/2016
RENAC Offers
Training in Private Finance
for Green
Energies
The Berlin based Renewables
Academy AG (RENAC), in
cooperation with the
Association of Development
Financing Institutions in Asia
& Pacific (ADFIAP) has
announced the three-year
scholarship program "Green
Banking - Capacity Building for
Development and Commercial
Banks on Climate Finance".
01/07/2016
Buckinghamshire
County Council Awards Food
Waste Contract to
Shanks
Shanks Group plc has been
awarded a food waste contract
by Buckinghamshire County
Council to manage the treatment
of approximately 7,000 tonnes
of food waste in the northern
part of Buckinghamshire.
01/06/2016
New
California Laws for 2016 -
Organics Recycling,
Infrastructure in
Focus
The California Department of
Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) composed
a year-end roundup of new
legislation include those that
improve organics management,
create tax incentives to
increase the state’s recycling
infrastructure, and bolster
CalRecycle’s ability to collect
recycling and disposal data.
01/06/2016
Amyris Signs
First Biofene® Ingredient
Supply
Agreement
California based Amyris, Inc
has announced signing its first
Biofene® ingredient supply
agreement for the global
nutraceuticals and vitamins
market.
01/04/2016
Global
Bioenergies Delivers First
Batch of Drop-in
Bio-Isobutene Fuel to
Audi
French company Global
Bioenergies and Audi have
announced signing a new
collaboration agreement to
further broaden the feedstock
flexibility of Global
Bioenergies’ Isobutene process.
01/04/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
02/05/2016: Comments to AFRL
on EA for Red Rock Biofuels
Biorefinery
Red Rock Biofuels LLC is
developing a domestic
commercial-scale military
specification transportation
fuel production facility in
Lake County, Oregon, capable of
using woody biomass
feedstocks.
01/09/2016
|
