Volume III, Issue 12, March 25, 2013
In the swarm of regulations impacting clean, economical, and sane conversion of waste to energy and goods, there appears to be a curious opportunity. Not an easy route, but at least something new. It would seem that the good bits of one country and one agency's approach might be combined with the salvageable elements of another's to come up with something approaching common sense. As you would expect, this is a Twisted Path, so allow me to lay a trail of bread crumbs.
Globally, a whole bunch of regulatory changes continue to emerge from an underlying theme that the global climate is changing and it's Man's Fault. Set aside your notions of the validity of this concern and focus instead on how this monumental Doomsday scenario is forcing our agencies into action, and what this means for waste conversion. It is with the reduction of emissions leading to the Greenhouse Effect and with greenhouse gases (GHG) that mess up the upper atmosphere, and shift the solar thermal balance that everyone is most concerned. Naturally, this has initiated the Great Global GHG Scavenger Hunt: Of those things that Man does, what contributes MOST to GHGs, and is there anything we can actually Change?
Turns out that Waste Disposal falls in that broad category. So does Transport. So does Mining. Link those together: make and throw away less waste, don't haul waste very far, and use waste sourced raw materials instead of mining new stuff. These are all good old ideas that have now been given a new Grand Purpose in reducing GHGs. You can see the changes in the European waste directives and at least in the rhetoric of the US, if not in the national code. Despite waffling at the national level (we don't want to upset the Entrenched Money, after all), many US states are changing their own Rules to improve waste management in ways that cut transport and disposal while promoting localized recycling and reprocessing.
Out of this mash-up comes the idea of a Circular Economy, where we track the flow of ALL the materials from goods to waste to conversion to raw materials and back to goods. If you can accomplish that "re-cycle" without trans-oceanic transport or even Trash Trucks to Yuma, hey! You cut GHGs, make money, and keep jobs local. Agencies now appear to be finding new ways to make it far more expensive and painful to follow the Old Ways than to get creative and implement new local strategies. California is just one of the many states that certainly knows how to use Regs to make things more difficult. It's just that now, some of the new regs have both incentives and barriers that seem to actually encourage smaller, localized innovation.
Not that our agencies know how to do that hat trick very well after so long concentrating on Big is Beautiful: these new standards and policies are bound to also be painful. Yet if the end result is pulling materials, money, and jobs back to the communities, somehow that can't be worse than aiding the production of more plastic toys in Asia. And just think of all the GHGs we save!
The California Air Resources Board oversees the Low Carbon Fuel Standard as well as the Cap and Trade program, both focused on GHGs, both undergoing rapid change (rapid, at least, for agencies). Next Month, a suite of new ways to regulate alternatives to petroleum diesel are up for discussion. You should watch this one closely and really think about whether you want your kid's school bus fuel to come from your own community's waste, or from Saudi oil-fields.
Viridor and E.ON Partner on EfW & District Heating in Trident Park Project
United Kingdom based integrated waste management firm Viridor has announced a partnership with both the local Cardiff Council and with Germany's E.ON energy firm to explore the incorporation of district heating into Viridor's Trident Park Energy from Waste (EfW) combined heat and power plant in Wales. 03/24/2013
Maersk Group Focuses on Conversion of Lignin to Marine Bio-Oils
Dutch shipping giant the Maersk Group has announced its focus on conversion of lignin from cellulosic biomass into a bio-oil replacement for petroleum-sourced marine oil fuels. 03/23/2013
Canadian RFA Forms New Next Generation Biofuels Committee
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) has announced formation of a new committee focused on ensuring that the nation's advanced biofuels development continues to grow. 03/21/2013
CEC EISG Awards Include Three Waste Conversion Projects
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has announced awards totaling $1,815,274 to fund 20 research projects from the CEC's Energy Innovations Small Grant (EISG) program. 03/21/2013
Buster Biofuels Awarded $2.6MM for Biodiesel Manufacturing, Fueling Facility
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has announced awards totaling $5,580,773 for clean-energy transportation projects, with funding coming from Assembly Bill 118, the CEC's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. 03/21/2013
KiOR Ships First Commercial Cellulosic Diesel from Mississippi Biorefinery
Texas based KiOR, Inc. has announced shipment of its first cellulosic biodiesel from its first commercial scale biorefinery in Columbus, Mississippi. 03/20/2013
ForceField Secures Financing Commitments for Waste Heat Conversion
New York headquartered multi-technology company ForceField Energy Inc. has announced that it has secured specialized project financing commitments from two leading US banks, enabling the company's clients to more rapidly and with greater certainty arrange up to 100% project financing. 03/20/2013
Air Liquide Plans 450 tpd CO2 Plant at Calgren's Tulare County Ethanol Facility
With its US headquarters in Houston, Texas, Air Liquide has announced its intent to expand its California operations with the development of a facility to capture, purify and liquefy around 450 tons per day (tpd) of food grade carbon dioxide from Calgren Renewable Fuels' 55 million gallon ethanol plant in Tulare County. 03/20/2013
Sapphire Secures Algal Green Crude Supply Agreement with Tesoro Refining
California based Sapphire Energy, Inc has entered into a commercial supply agreement with Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Tesoro Corporation. 03/20/2013
Foster Wheeler Secures South Korea Biomass CFB Steam Generator Contract
Swiss engineering company Foster Wheeler AG has announced that a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has been awarded a major contract to design and supply a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) gasification to steam generation system for a biomass power plant in South Korea. 03/19/2013
Environmental Waste International Completes $885K Private Placement
Ontario, Canada based Environmental Waste International Inc (EWI) has announced that it has closed a non-brokered private placement funding round, placing 4.425 million units and raising $885,000. 03/19/2013
Cyclone Power Secures Strategic Investment for European Expansion
Florida based external heat driven engine company Cyclone Power has announced that it has signed a letter of understanding with Next S.p.A., an industrial holding company based in Florence, Italy, to seek sales and distribution opportunities in Europe for the company's waste-to-power engine applications. 03/19/2013
BioTork and USDA Extend Ag Waste to Biofuels Collaboration
Florida based BioTork has announced that its long-standing and successful collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for conversion of agricultural product residuals to biofuel will be extended. 03/19/2013
Southern Research Institute Secures $925MM to Liquefy Biomass for Biofuels
The Southern Research Institute (SRI) of Birmingham, Alabama has announced that it has been awarded $925,000 by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a process for liquefaction of biomass into refinery-ready bio-oil. 03/18/2013
Kansas State University Collaborates to Improve Biofuel, Bioproducts Quality
Kansas State University (KSU) has announced that its biochemical engineering researchers are collaborating with a national effort to improve the production efficiency and quality of biofuels ad bio-source products. 03/18/2013
Due 04/10/2013: Applications to CEC for Renewable Energy/Planning Grants
The California Energy Commission (CEC) released a Program Opportunity Notice (PON-12-403) seeking proposals toward the Renewable Energy and Conservation Planning Grants, and has posted the pre-application presentation given by staff during the public workshop held on March 21, 2013. 03/23/2013
Due 05/14/2013: Comments on Approaches to Regulating Alt Diesel Fuels
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has announced a day-long workshop on April 23, 2013 to discuss concepts for the regulation of alterative diesel fuels, including biodiesel, renewable diesel, and other emerging diesel fuel substitutes. 03/23/2013
Due 07/01/2013: Applications for UK Renewable Project Investment Contracts
The United Kingdom (UK) Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has announced release of a summary decision to help renewable electricity project developers permit, finance, and build facilities more rapidly. 03/19/2013
CBA Symposium
18-19, 2013