25th Annual BioCycle West Coast Conference 2010

Keynote Speakers

A - F

G - L

M - R

S - Z

Brian Adkins, Bishop Paiute Tribe
Hot Days, Cool Nights Lead To Composting Innovation
The goal of this demonstration project is to transport food waste from Tribal commercial and institutional kitchens (casino, daycare, education center and elders center) by bicycle to tribal gardening projects and then to convert this waste into soil-building compost. The project provides after-school employment for high school students.

Brian Adkins has enjoyed working in the position of environmental director at the Bishop Paiute Tribe for over five years. He has a background in environmental geology, is a registered California geologist, and earned a masters degree from Humboldt State University.

Ron Alexander, R. Alexander Associates, Inc.
Status Of Compost Markets In California
Status of compost markets in California, and life after ADC (alternative daily cover) are the central themes of this presentation. This discussion covers current compost market development in California; effect of anaerobic digestion; programs affecting agricultural markets, landscape architects & Caltrans; emerging markets that can absorb additional volumes of yard trimmings and food waste.

Ron Alexander is President of R. Alexander Associates, Inc., a consulting company specializing in product and market development for organic recycled products. He is a horticulturist with over 25 years of experience with marketing compost. Mr. Alexander has developed several of the industries landmark compost sales and marketing tools, and is the author of the Field Guide to Compost Use, and Landscape Architecture Specifications for Compost Utilization, as well as The Practical Guide to Compost Marketing and Sales. The second edition of The Practical Guide to Compost Marketing and Sales has just been published by BioCycle.

Richard Anthony, Richard Anthony Associates
Organics As Integral Component of Zero Waste Policy and Planning
On the Big Island, the Hawaii County Council rejected implementation of a waste incineration plant due to its high cost. Over one-third of Hawai’I County’s discards are organic materials that, when diverted from the landfill and composted, mulched or directly land applied, can greatly improve the island’s soil for farming, facilitating the production of more locally grown food while mitigating erosion and runoff, minimizing the need to import expensive pesticides and fertilizers, and conserving irrigation water. These materials include food scraps, yard trimmings and soiled and low-grade papers. As part of the stakeholder input process, representatives of both the agriculture sector and the tourist industry indicated their respective industries could benefit from mulch, compost and compost-amended soils.

Richard V. Anthony began his career in Public Administration in 1971 as a manager of the California State University Long Beach Recycling Center. He received a MS in Public Administration in 1974. Mr. Anthony has worked his entire career in environmental program management positions. He is an internationally recognized and published expert in the area of Resource Management using the Zero Waste Systems approach. In November 2009, he led an International Dialog on Zero Waste in Puerto Princesa Philippines and in February 2009 in Naples Italy. Mr. Anthony is a founder and member of the Board of Directors of the California Resource Recovery Association, the Grassroots Recycling Network, and the Zero Waste International Alliance. In 2009 he participated in the development of Zero Waste Plans for Los Angeles, Austin, Dubuque, and the Island of Hawaii. He is an Instructor in the California Resource Recovery Association Certificate Program and Board Member of the California Resource Management Technical Institute.

Norman Arancon, University of Hawaii
System Options For Food Waste Vermicomposting
A range of systems and technologies to compost food waste streams will be described, including small-scale, on-site options. Insights on managing the vermicomposting process as well as end uses for vermicompost will be provided.

Norman Arancon obtained M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Science from The Ohio State University (OSU) as a Fulbright Scholar and a Graduate Research Associate from 1997-2001. He was awarded a Post-Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Studies from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, after an award from the Rotary International Foundation in 1993. He holds a bachelor's degree in Agriculture with a major in Crop Science from Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Philippines. His research at OSU included substitution of vermicomposts in commercial plant-growth media for greenhouse horticultural crops. Together with Dr. Clive Edwards and his students at the Soil Ecology Laboratory, he pioneered research on vermicompost applications in the field using commercially-important vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers; ornamentals such as marigolds and petunias; and small fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, and grapes, and investigated the effects of vermicomposts on chemical and biochemical changes in soils. He leads a USDA/NRI grant entitled, “'Effects and Modes of Action of Vermicomposts on Field Horticultural Crops.” Dr. Arancon became a Research Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University in 2007. In the summer of 2008, he took a position as Assistant Professor at The University of Hawaii (Hilo), but continues to collaborate closely with Dr. Edwards and the Soil Ecology Laboratory. He is currently designing and building the Vermiculture Center program of the Pacific Islands.

Danielle Aslam, CalRecycle
Brian Stalker, CalRecycle
Compost Use To Remediate Fire Damaged Land, Control Erosion And Minimize Run-Off During Rain Events
CalRecycle sponsored research studies conducted by the University of California, Riverside where compost was applied to land ravaged by wildfires. Plots included two types of compost at various depths of application on a steep hillside. A demonstration project at the same site, but not on fire-ravaged land, is evaluating performance of compost in post-construction applications, using a variety of native seeds and compost on a steep hillside. A third project expands the research to evaluating water quality issues at compost facilities by determining the water holding capacities of organic materials being processed and developing best management practices for facilities to minimize run-off during rain events.

Danielle Aslam is an Integrated Waste Management Specialist for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s Local Assistance and Market Development Division in Long Beach, CA. In this position, she manages a contract to support compost workshops around the state and conduct compost erosion control research, among other projects. Prior to this appointment, she received a National Science Foundation Fellowship for research at the University of California, Davis, where she developed a model of compost degradation to help farmers avoid compost phytotoxicity. Mrs. Aslam has also researched compost biofiltration, wetland wastewater treatment, onsite wastewater treatment and worked as Project Coordinator for the Michigan State University Organic Apple Research Project. She holds a M.S. degree in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of California at Davis and a B.S.degree in BioSystems Engineering from Michigan State University.

Brian Stalker has worked for CalRecycle (formerly the California Integrated Waste Management Board) in the Organic Materials Management Section since the spring of 2008. Mr. Stalker graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in chemistry and has focused his time at CalRecycle on the diversion of organic materials from California landfills through composting. He is the manager of the Compost Best Management Practices and Benefits contract.

Kathleen Ave, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Pilot Testing Substrate Additions
A 2009 pilot study conducted by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District evaluated substrate addition to a municipal wastewater treatment plant. This presentation will provide a project overview, results of the pilot tests, program status and future plans. In addition, barriers and lessons learned will be provided.

Kathleen Ave is a Project Manager in the Advanced Renewable & Distributed Generation Technologies group at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) where she supports SMUD’s Biomass and Climate Change programs. Her projects include the Sacramento Area Green Partnership, which developed the first Sacramento Countywide greenhouse gas baseline inventory, and a pilot test of codigested grease and liquid food processing waste at the regional wastewater treatment plant. Before joining SMUD, Ms. Ave worked for the Intel Corporation, where she managed enterprise-wide software development programs in e-Business and information architecture. Currently a member of the Sacramento Joint Cities/County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, she started her career in the solid waste and recycling field, developing programs for the King County Commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials and a statewide non-profit recycling organization. A former Coro Fellow, she holds an MBA from the University of Washington and a BA from UC Davis.

Werner Bidlingmaier, University of Weimar
Control Parameters For Composting Plants
This technical discussion, based on many years of composting research and project implementation in Germany and other countries, covers design and control parameters for composting plants and how to use them in practice.
Werner Bidlingmaier, PhD, is Professor of Waste Management at the Bauhaus-University of Weimar since 1997. From 1993 to 1997, he was a Full Professor for Waste Management at the University of Essen. From 1998 to 2001, he was the Leader of the Transfer Centre for Biological Waste Treatment Weimar. Education: 1990 Post-doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Stuttgart, Germany; 1979 Degree: PhD in civil engineering, University of Stuttgart, Germany; 1967 to 1972 studies of civil engineering (Dipl.-Ing.), University of Stuttgart, Germany. Awards:1984 Scientific Award University of Brussels. He serves on the Editorial Board for Compost Science & Utilization, and has authored many publications about composting and organic waste management, as well as numerous other topics in the solid waste management field.

Ginny Black, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Goals And Incentives To Anchor Programs
Minnesota engaged in a stakeholder process to evaluate how to decrease the state’s carbon footprint through increasing recycling. The presentation will step through the stakeholder process and the goals set by that group.

Ginny Black currently works for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as the Organics Recycling Specialist for the state and assists the private, public and nonprofit sectors in reusing and recycling food residuals and nonrecyclable paper. She also works with compost facilities to develop markets for high quality compost. Since she began with the state in 1987, she has assisted counties in developing their recycling program and in writing and implementing their solid waste management plans. She has served as a Board member of the US Composting Council Board of Directors since 1995, and was elected to her fifth term in November 2007. She chairs the Composting Council’s Research and Education Foundation committee.

Liz Bogdanski, Morongo Band of Mission Indians
Recycling, Job Training And Next — Organics Diversion
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians Environmental Protection Department ‘s Pollution Prevention Program oversees the management of solid [waste] resources. The Tribe is diverting 17 percent of material leaving the casino from the landfill to the Material Recovery Facility. Other practices include a small composting project and the diversion of grass clippings to feed the cattle. The goal is to divert 40 percent, which would include all organics. At this time, however, we face some challenges.

Liz Bogdanski has been the Director of the Environmental Protection Department for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians since 2004. Under the direction of the Morongo Tribal Council, she developed and implemented the Tribe’s Air, Water, Pollution Prevention (solid and hazardous waste management) Resources Conservation (range and wildlife management) and the Native American Preference Internship programs. Prior to Morongo, Ms. Bogdanski worked as the Education Outreach Coordinator for the Kailua Bay Advisory Council in Hawaii. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2000 and her Masters in Management from the University of Redlands, School of Business in 2007. Ms. Bogdanski has long been inspired by ancient resource management systems, native people’s belief in a living ecosystem, and their indigenous relationship with the environment as kinship rather then stewardship. She believes that today’s resource managers have much to learn from systems of the past and incorporates traditional knowledge with modern technologies in the development of Morongo’s Environmental Protection Department.

Juliette Bohn, Humboldt Waste Management Authority
Cost Feasibility of Anaerobic Digestion
In Rural Setting
Development of Regional Food Waste Digester Facility for source-separated feedstocks includes assessments of cost feasibility and project permitting. With a grant from USEPA Region 9, this project will provide a test case for working through the regulatory process as well as develop educational tools to assist other project developers. One goal is to identify opportunities to streamline the anaerobic digester permitting process.

Juliette Bohn is a Program Analyst at the Humboldt Waste Management Authority (HWMA) where she is managing the development of a regional food waste digester, enhancing the energy efficiency at the waste transfer station, and investigating the feasibility of utilizing the local landfill gas resource. Ms. Bohn is concurrently completing a MS degree in Environmental Systems at Humboldt State University with a focus on sustainable waste and energy systems (May 2010). Her project development experience includes the conceptual design of a hydrogen fueling station, installation of a solar radiation monitoring station, and the design and implementation a hybrid micro-hydro / solar power generation system. Ms. Bohn also contributes to two technical advisory groups focused on anaerobic digestion project development.

Jennifer Brady, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
WARM Model Update — New Factors For
Organics Degradability
Approximately two years ago, the organic materials portion of the USEPA WARM model began to receive increased attention. Many of the concerns were highlighted during a session at the 2008 Biocycle West Coast Conference. In May 2008, a meeting was held to set priorities. This presentation provides a description of updates to the emission factors for organic materials in WARM, including decay rates, soil carbon sequestration and fertilizer offset. Additional revisions to the model, including overhaul of the documentation and improved interface, will be described.

Jennifer Brady works at the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (formerly known as the Office of Solid Waste). Ms. Brady specializes in the measurement of waste generation and waste management. A large part of her work focuses on the estimation of greenhouse gas and energy benefits from recycling and composting. She also spends time helping states, localities and businesses properly use the Waste Reduction Model.

Will Brinton, Woods End Laboratory
Static Pile Respiration In Relation To CO2, CH4 Emissions
This study reports on a project examining relationships of compost respiration to emissions in relation to pile size. Compost pile size is a dynamic factor whereby the ratio of surface area to volume (SA:V) significantly influences the natural gaseous exchange with the environment. A range of SA:V from 3 down to 1.2 is closely and negatively correlated to gaseous CO2 and NH3 internally in composts and to emissions of CO2 and CH4 from the piles. Compost pile configurations are observed that enable methane emissions. The study proposes a threshold of CH4-flux that may be correlated to mature compost, as measured by static compost respiration tests.

Will Brinton founded Woods End Laboratory in 1975 as a young agronomy student in Maine. He went on to conduct his Masters comparing effects of raw vs. composted manure on soils and plants. Mr. Brinton’s training included internships in Germany and Sweden working on long-term soil trials of compost and manure to determine effects on soil respiration and humus quality. Later Unity College awarded him a Doctorate for his research unraveling the cycle of volatile fatty acid production in composts.

Sally Brown, University of Washington
Practical Thinking On GHG Emissions, Carbon Credits
Eligibility for carbon credits and making a positive impact on greenhouse gas emissions can often be two separate things. Carbon markets are new and developing daily. Rules vary across the different exchanges and rules within the same exchange can and do change over time. A discussion of how science and policy interact for organics management and carbon credits.

Sally Brown, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor in the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington. She has a BA from Williams College, and her MS and PhD from the University of Maryland. Dr. Brown became interested in biosolids and other organic residuals while running her wholesale produce business supplying locally grown fruits and vegetables to restaurants and stores in New York City. Use of residuals on farms seemed like a way to cement urban and rural connections. Among other recent positions, Dr. Brown is a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) protocol development committee on methane avoidance for composting (2008). She is also on BioCycle’s Editorial Board.

Michael Bryan-Brown, Green Mountain Technologies
Size Reduction Facilitates Decomposition In On-Site Composting
How well does an on-site composting vessel handle biodegradable plastics The answer we put forward is that compostable products will degrade in a system like the Earth Tub but the timeline is slower than what can be achieved with food waste alone. Our experience shows that size reduction makes the utensils unrecognizable in the finished compost.

Michael Bryan-Brown has a BS in Environmental Engineering from Tufts University. He is president and founder of Green Mountain Technologies. He holds three patents in the field of composting. Previously, Mr. Bryan-Brown was working as consulting engineer on biosolids management in New York City for Stone & Webster and Metcalf & Eddy.

Bart Carr, Central Contra Costa (CA) Solid Waste Authority
Commercial Food Waste Digestion Pilot
The Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority (CCCSWA) has partnered with the East Bay Municipal Water District (EBMUD) to operate a pilot program collecting commercial food waste for digestion. In addition to the diversion benefit, digestion of the food waste results in production of methane, which is captured and burned to create electricity. The CCCSWA approach to collection is to emphasize elimination of contamination at the source. This reduces clean up and related costs prior to EBMUD delivery.

Bart Carr has worked for the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority since July 2008. He is responsible for organic waste diversion programs, construction & demolition (C&D) waste diversion, AB 939 compliance and reporting to the he California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), and special projects. Prior to joining the CCCSWA, Mr. Carr was an independent solid waste consultant for 12 years serving local government. Mr. Carr graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a BA degree in Political Science/Development Studies. He spent eight years in the U.S Army.

Douglas Carruthers, ORMI, Inc.
Feedstock Prep And Blending To Optimize Substrate Mix
Research and practice has led to development of high-energy feedstock blends for anaerobic digesters that boost biogas production. Overview of new processing system to remove contaminants and prepare substrates for digester addition.

Douglas Carruthers is Vice President, Corporate Development of Organic Resource Management Inc. (ORMI). Mr. Carruthers has 20 years of organic residual management experience, founded upon a prior 20 years in the North American beef cattle production, marketing and processing industries. In 1993, he joined Organic Resource Management Inc. (ORMI), Canada’s largest provider of vacuum truck services for the collection, processing and recycling of food-related organic residuals and services in excess of 6,500 regular scheduled commercial, industrial, institutional customers in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Mr. Carruthers has led the company’s development of AD solutions on Ontario farms by applying his experience gained evaluating various AD technologies in Europe and North America since 2005.

Nelson Chan, Xebec Adsorption, Inc.
Contaminant Removal To Produce Pipeline Quality Biomethane
Upgrading digester gas to biomethane has been growing in popularity as an alternative energy production pathway to lower overall dependence on fossil-fuel derived products. However, air contamination has been a problematic issue since both O2 and N2 need to be removed to meet stringent gas quality requirements. A recently developed kinetic based separation technology collectively removes impurities such as N2, O2, and CO2 within a single stage. Using time differentiated adsorption and desorption rates associated with each gas component, impurities are separated and biomethane is produced.

Nelson Chan works for Xebec Adsorption Inc., managing sales and strategic business development activities for the last two years in clean technology equipment for the upgrading of biogas to renewable sources of energy. He worked most recently as a Process Engineering Manager with QuestAir Technologies Inc. and led a team of engineers and scientists who developed the fast-cycle pressure swing adsorption technologies for biogas upgrading to biomethane. Prior to this, he was an engineering consultant for Aker Kvaerner and helped devised chemical technology solutions in industrial applications. As a registered professional engineer in Canada, Mr. Chan received his honorary Bachelors degree in Combined Chemical Engineering & Chemistry at the University of British Columbia and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Segal Graduate School of Business.

Nicole Chardoul, Resource Recycling Systems
Composting For Health Care Systems
Food waste accounts for 10 percent of a hospital’s waste stream. Composting food waste creates a beneficial use, demonstrates the health system’s commitment to sustainability, and can reduce disposal costs. This presentation explores options and next steps including: auditing, volume projections, technology review (in-vessel on-site, transport off-site to regional facility), environmental benefit, costs, staff commitment and incorporation of healthy, local food practices.

Nicole Chardoul, P.E., RRS Principal and COO, manages the consulting operations and is instrumental in all aspects of projects requiring engineering experience. Ms. Chardoul is RRS’ leading project and construction manager and compost programming and site design engineer. She has an extensive knowledge of engineering, pollution prevention, as well as equipment procurement and specifications for all types of green projects. Ms. Chardoul’s firm wrote the original Compost Operator Training manual for Michigan in 1995; she assisted the Michigan Recycling Coalition in adding a Food Waste Utilization chapter to the training manual in 2007. She has trained compost site operators in Michigan since 2002 and has served on local compost regulatory review committees to encourage composting and, recently, food waste diversion from the landfill. Ms. Chardoul is actively working with health care and urban farming organizations in Michigan to build capacity for composting of food scraps from health care food service operations and to support healthy, local food supply.

A. Chiumenti, R. Chiumenti and F. da Borso, University of Udine (Italy)
Advanced Treatments Increase Value of Digestate
As part of the RiducaReflui Research Project financed by Veneto Agricoltura and the Veneto Region, Italy, several technologies for the management of digestate and farming effluents were subject to monitoring, with the objective of evaluating the efficiency of each process. The research project also is evaluating options for complying with the Nitrates Directive, which limits the quantity of nitrogen that could be spread on agricultural land. Some of the results of this monitoring will be presented.

Alessandro Chiumenti, PhD, is a researcher in Agricultural Mechanization at the Udine University. He received his doctorate from the University of Padua in Italy (2005). Upon graduation, he became a researcher at the University of Udine, Italy, where he has conducted a wide variety of basic and applied research on various aspects of solid and liquid waste treatment, primarily in the area of farm residues. Treatment processes include anaerobic digestion of swine and cattle manure, composting of similar residues and advanced wastewater treatment of liquid residues including reverse osmosis. Dr. Chiumenti has published several articles, written books and contributed to publications covering several aspects of solid and liquid waste management.

Chris Choate, Recology
Evaluation, Selection of Anaerobic Digestion System
The feasibility of diverting source separated food waste to a wastewater treatment plant to be slurried and added to the WWTP digester has been proven, and negotiations are progressing to establish a full-scale project. Concurrently, Recology is evaluating AD technologies for a dedicated digester system to process San Francisco’s separated organics, with digestate sent to existing composting facility. The status of these initiatives and the overall effect on composting site capacity and emissions will be discussed.

Chris Choate is the Vice President of Sustainability of Recology, Inc., a 100% employee-owned company providing residential and commercial integrated waste management services to more than 50 California communities. Mr. Choate has 30 years of experience in the solid waste industry. He has worked for Norcal for the past 18 years. Mr. Choate has played a lead role in the start-up of Recology’s food waste compost operation at Jepson Prairie Organics located near Dixon, California. As Vice President of Sustainability, he is responsible for improving Recology’s environmental programs and for finding alternatives to landfill disposal by utilizing waste material for other purposes. Consistent with Recology’s sustainability programs, Mr. Choate is analyzing new biomass conversion technologies to create renewable energy and alternative fuel from the waste that Recology collects from homes and businesses. Recology is committed to assisting the City and County of San Francisco to reach zero waste by 2020. Mr. Choate has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from San Jose State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California.

Craig Coker, Coker Composting & Consulting
Shredding Impacts On Compost Bulking Agent Performance
In 2008, Royal Oak Farm, a 150,000 tons/year, open-air turned windrow solid waste composting facility in southern Virginia, took in approximately 70,000 tons of industrial solid wastes, mostly sludges. To get adequate porosity, Royal Oak uses woody amendment coarsely ground to 8-10-inch particle size. New demands on woody residuals created by new biomass-fired renewable energy systems, coupled with existing demand from paper mills and other end users, caused the cost of wood waste to begin climbing drastically in mid-2008. Its operational need for coarsely ground woody materials led Royal Oak to evaluate European slow-speed, high-torque shredders. This presentation discusses cost analyses of wood residuals purchases, the in-depth evaluations conducted of seven different makes and models of these shredders and field demonstrations of three units.

Craig Coker has over 30 years experience in the planning, permitting, design, construction and operation of organics recycling facilities processing a wide variety of feedstocks using several composting technologies, as well as in the marketing and sales of compost and compost-amended horticultural products. Mr. Coker is a licensed Waste Management Facility Operator, a certified Nutrient Management Planner and a USCC/SWANA Certified Compost Systems Manager. Mr. Coker has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a graduate degree in Sanitary Engineering from George Washington University. He is also a Contributing Editor to BioCycle magazine.

Matthew Cotton, Integrated Waste Management Consulting LLC
Municipal Compost Use In California Organic Agriculture
A recent statewide survey of the composting and mulch production infrastructure in California collected data on compost and mulch utilization in the state, including material marketed to organic agriculture production. A summary of the survey findings related to compost use, as well as an update on policy and market impacts related to the trace amounts of bifenthrin in some municipal green waste composts will be discussed. The latter can affect the use of compost in organic agriculture in the state.

Matthew Cotton founded Integrated Waste Management Consulting (IWMC), LLC, and has 20 years of experience in solid waste management planning; permitting, environmental, and regulatory compliance; and composting. IWMC provides technical consulting services and has completed hundreds of solid waste projects, including permitting and assisting in the development of some of the major composting facilities in California.

Dennis Crabtree, BioStar Systems, LLC
Codigestion Of Poultry Processing Residuals
Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative, Inc. owns and operates a poultry processing plant at the western edge of Virginia. A codigestion system is designed to treat 83 tons/day of litter generated at the grower operations along with wastewater, fat, oil and grease from the processing plant. A 2.5 MW cogeneration plant will generate fixed-price renewable energy sufficient to meet the plant’s current demands. Heat recovered from the cogeneration plant will be used to maintain the operating temperature of the digestion system and supplant the LPG requirement of the processing plant. Stabilized solids from the digestion process will be recovered, granulated and dried to produce 15,000 tons/year of agricultural-grade fertilizer with a 4-4-2 NPK.

Dennis Crabtree is a graduate of University of Missouri at Rolla with a B.S. in Engineering Management. He completed additional special studies and MBA requirements at the University of Michigan and Florida State University. Mr. Crabtree has operating management experience with Quaker Oats, ICI America, and was Division Director of Olin Corporation’s Recovery Systems Group. He founded Taylor & Thomas Environmental, Inc. in 1996 for the purpose of developing and deploying cutting-edge environmental management technologies. Mr. Crabtree was responsible for the design, construction and operation of the first thermophilic, poultry waste, anaerobic digestion facility in the United States. Sponsored by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and the USDA, this facility has become the cornerstone of the Bio-Plex Research Center at West Virginia State University. He is one of the founders and currently Chief Technology Officer of BioStar Systems, LLC, headquartered in Kansas City, MO. BioStar Systems is a provider of tailored organic waste management technologies and renewable energy.

Steve Crawford, Passamaquoddy Tribe
Producing Home Heating Oil In Algae Reactor
The development of an innovative biofuels project that could enable residents to grow algae in backyard reactors to make several hundred gallons of heating oil per year will be described in this presentation. The research is focusing on utilization of cultured algae.

Steve Crawford is Environmental Director of Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, Perry, Maine, since 2003. He received: M.Sc. Psychology, Walden U. 2006; M.Sc. Zoology, University of Oklahoma 1976; BS, Fish and Wildlife, University of Rhode Island 1970. Mr. Crawford worked in the aquaculture industry from 1971 until 2000, (building and managing the largest catfish farm in Oklahoma from 1976-1989), and developing the first and only nori (seaweed) commercial farm in the northwest Atlantic, (Cobscook Bay, Maine) from 1990 to 2000.He is a long-time consultant in bioremediation technology in aquaculture systems. He is the author of several publications in peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from fish and seaweed culture to use of Reiki for improving behavior and memory in Alzheimer’s patients. He is Chair of the United South and Eastern Tribes Inc (USET) Natural Resource Committee, member of TAMS Steering Committee, National Tribal Water Council, Tribal Energy Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC).

Carsten Cuhls, GEWITRA
Evaluating Gaseous Emissions From Composting Facilities
A recent case study by the German Environmental Protection Agency evaluated the gaseous emission generated by several different types of composting facilities, including “enclosed“ and “partially enclosed” treatment systems, semipermeable membrane and open windrow composting. Anaerobic digestion using dry process fermentation including a maturation phase was also evaluated. Data was collected on: climate relevant substances: methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia; and total carbon and VOCs without methane. The objective was to identify the emissions of the analyzed substances in correlation with the individual composting systems. The input materials were a typical mixed organic waste from source separated collection. Additionally, for the open windrow composting technology, a site with pure green waste material was considered. Emission levels of each treatment process were measured and the individual CO2 benefit was calculated.

Carsten Cuhls has been with Gewitra GmbH in Bonn and Hanover, Germany, since 2000, serving as Managing Director of the Hanover branch. He is responsible for the layout and design of environmental plants, especially biological waste treatment, MBP (aerobic and anaerobic digestion, composting, separating, biogas plant capacity up to 100,000 Mg/a), planning and engineering of plants for gaseous emission control of VOC, odor, greenhouse gases (biological, thermal, physical treatment); life cycle assessment studies, ecological efficiency, fugitive emissions; and consulting and R&D into ecological and sustainable technologies. He is also a visiting lecturer, since 2009, at Technical University of Braunschwei. Dr. Cuhls received his doctorate in 2000 from the University of Hanover (Civil engineering).

Gary Cuneen, Seven Generations Ahead
Michelle Vanderlaan, Holmes Elementary School PTO
Zero Waste Schools Workshop
Zero Waste Schools Workshop will present Seven Generations Ahead’s (SGA) Zero Waste Ambassadors program, discussing SGA’s collaboration and work at Holmes Elementary School in Oak Park, Illinois and with six additional Oak Park District 97 schools. The workshop has three segments: Waste Assessments, Strategic Planning and Implementation; Engaging Key Decision Makers; and Transferring Zero Waste Practice To The Community. Strategies for eliminating waste at its source, increasing recycling, and converting food residuals to compost will be covered, as well as funding; enrollment of key decision-makers, including principals, superintendents, and operations managers; the role of students and parents; barriers and successes; and landfill waste diversion and economic results. Excerpts from SGA’s Zero Waste Ambassadors educational video and curriculum will be shown. Lastly, the workshop will discuss ways in which the Zero Waste Schools project is influencing zero waste implementation in other arenas of the community, and the potential for expansion.

Gary Cuneen is Founding Executive Director of Seven Generations Ahead. Sparked by the spirit of a child, Seven Generations Ahead has emerged into a leading proponent of ecologically prosperous community development. Seven Generations Ahead’s birthing seed was a compelling thought Mr. Cuneen had about his 4-year old son, and a question he imagined his son asking in later years about his choices for confronting the environmental problems facing humankind. That initial inspiration transformed into the development of Seven Generations Ahead in 2001, an organization advocating for local solutions to global environmental problems.

Michelle Vanderlaan is the founder of Sugarcup Trading, a retail trading company specializing in new and recycled kids toys, clothing, electronics and gear. Kids are introduced to green commerce, recycling and philanthropy while having a fun trading experience. For the past four years, she has been focused on giving back to the community through strategic board work and specific green projects. As past PTO Co-President of Holmes Elementary School, Michelle has led the school towards a Zero Waste(ZW) status which now serves as a benchmark school for ZW initiatives in the region and beyond. Ms. Vanderlaan’s former corporate experience includes Senior Vice President of Hudson Inclusion Solutions (a division of Hudson Highland Group). She has held leadership positions within Randstad, NA and IBM Corporation.

Ana Lucia de Carvalho, San Diego Environment Department
Starting A Municipal Food Waste Recycling Program At Large Venues
The City of San Diego (City) started its food waste recycling program in 2001 with large venues. The program includes the City’s convention center and baseball stadium, universities, a military facility, and an amusement park. The city opted to work with large venues because the loads are larger, it is easier to detect and control contamination and there is less staff turnover. The program includes technical assistance with logistics, close monitoring of the first three loads and a constant evaluation of the program to ensure clean loads and the inclusion of desirable materials. Recycling staff has created a program to train kitchen, maintenance and administrative staff. San Diego is expanding its program to include other large venues and also smaller participants like restaurants and fast food stores.

Ana de Carvalho is an Environmental Specialist for the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department. She is one of the specialists responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of waste reduction and recycling programs, which enable the city to meet and exceed state mandated waste diversion goals. She has developed and implemented a variety of food waste diversion strategies for large venues such as Sea World San Diego, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego State University, and Point Loma Nazarene University. She also has a vast experience with multifamily recycling programs, public space recycling, community recycling and general environmental education and outreach, having created EnviroTour — one of the most effective and popular school environmental education programs offered by the City. Ms. De Carvalho has a MS from Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Brazil, and has been working for the City of San Diego for eleven years, the last eight years in Environmental Services.

Bill Deaton, Deaton & Associates, LLC
Onion Processor Upgrades Biogas To Power Fuel Cells
Gills Onions took a liability — its onion waste — and converted it to an asset, including energy for the processing plant. Key topics to be covered are sustainability, anaerobic conversion of waste into biogas, cleanup and conditioning of that biogas, and feeding the biogas to fuel cells, which through an electrochemical reaction, produce electricity and useful heat for the processing plant. The favorable economics, clean technolog, and sustainability of the project will be highlighted.

William Deaton established Deaton & Associates, LLC (D&A) in 2001 to manage industrial energy, water, waste and food processing projects from the development through start-up and operation. Mr. Deaton, has 29 years experience, an MS in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University and graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program. He has developed numerous new products, innovative pieces of equipment and waste, energy, and water saving processes in his years working as an Engineering Manager and Vice President for large food companies. One of D&A’s latest projects, the Advanced Energy Recovery System (AERS), involves anaerobic digestion of onion peeling waste to produce biogas, which is purified to feed two 300 KW fuel cells. D&A also included a heat transfer loop to capture waste heat in the facility and deliver it to deficient processes. The AERS project has received prestigious awards for Innovation from the Energy Solutions Center in Washington D.C., the California Environmental and Economic Award for Innovation from Governor Schwarzenegger, the Golden State Award for Engineering Excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies, and grants from the Gas Technology Institute and the California Energy Commission.

Ken Decio, CalRecycle
Paul Miller, ESA
Reviewing Environmental Impacts Of Source Separated Organics Digestion
CalRecycle has a programmatic Environmental Impact Report (EIR) underway for anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities receiving and processing the source separated, organic (SSO) fraction of MSW. A programmatic EIR is conducted to determine, in a generic way, what the environmental impacts are for a generic facility, in this case an anaerobic digester for SSO. The goal, when this EIR is completed, is that actual projects will be able to move through the environmental permitting process with fewer challenges and barriers.

Ken Decio is a Senior Integrated Waste Management Specialist in the Permitting and LEA Support Division of CalRecycle. He is the contract manager for a project to develop a program EIR for anaerobic digestion facilities. Ken recently developed white papers on issues related to the regulations for alternative daily cover and food waste composting and assisted in educating Caltrans staff on the benefits of using compost for erosion control and revegetation projects.

Paul Miller is a managing associate at Environmental Science Associates (ESA). Employed by five consulting firms over the past 30 years, he has worked primarily for ESA the last 20 years. He is associated with both ESA’s Energy Practice and the Renewable Resources Practice. He is ESA’s West Coast Coordinator for air quality and noise. Mr. Miller is currently managing Program Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) on anaerobic digestion for CalRecycle and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (manure digesters and co-digesters), and a compost siting EIR in Sonoma County. Mr. Miller has degrees in zoology from Miami University (B.A.) and Colorado State University (M.S.).

Kevin Drew, San Francisco Environment Department
Food Waste Feedstock Flow Jumps After Separation Mandate
In October 2009, residents and businesses in San Francisco were required to source separate organics, including food waste, soiled paper and related materials. Previously, participation had been voluntary but strongly encouraged. An increase in tons diverted was noted almost immediately after the mandate took effect. Program data, outreach and education leading up to the mandate and continuing curbside collection monitoring will be discussed.

Kevin Drew is the Residential and Special Projects Zero Waste Coordinator for the San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE). He brings over 20 years of experience to the position including directing nonprofit recycling and reuse operations and shaping resource conservation policy at the local and statewide level. At SFE, Mr. Drew oversees the Fantastic 3 residential collection program, which diverts 100,000 tons of recyclables and 40,000 tons of organics each year. The program serves 330,000 households including 8,500 larger multifamily dwellings (MFD) buildings. As part of implementing Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance, the Residential team with Recology staff have added green carts to over 2,000 MFD in the past six months, to a total of over 5,200 MFD in San Francisco. Mr. Drew also manages the Zero Waste and Urban Sustainability grant program, which has distributed up to $1 million to nonprofits annually. The program has created green collar jobs coordinating diversion in apartment buildings, salvaging reusables at the transfer station, recovering building materials and computers for reuse, fresh food for re-distribution, and supported drop-off centers and diversion at special events.

Max Dubuisson, Climate Action Reserve
Composting And Organic Waste Digestion Protocol Update
The Climate Action Reserve (CAR), a nonprofit carbon standards organization, has protocols for the issuance of carbon credits for certain waste diversion activities. The Organic Waste Digestion protocol, adopted in October 2009, is for projects that use digesters to manage MSW food waste and certain agroindustrial wastewater streams. This can also include codigestion with livestock manure, or with ineligible waste streams (those feedstocks are not credited). In addition, CAR is developing a protocol for composting projects, which will issue credit for the avoided landfill emissions, minus the emissions from composting. The protocol is scheduled for adoption in June 2010. This presentation discusses how the protocols work, including eligibility, monitoring/reporting, and verification/crediting.

Max DuBuisson focuses on the growth and development of the Climate Action Reserve. He serves as a resource for interested stakeholders, especially concerning methane capture projects. Mr. DuBuisson also represents the Reserve through conferences and presentations. Prior to joining the Reserve, he worked for Infinity Wind Power in Santa Barbara, as well as Pacific Gas & Electric in San Francisco. He received a Master’s in Environmental Science and Management from the Donald Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, where he focused on Eco-Entrepreneurship and Corporate Environmental Management. Originally from North Carolina, Mr. DuBuisson received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Davidson College.

Zeynep Erdal, CH2M Hill
Effects Of Additives On Biogas Production
The use of additives such as enzymes and trace elements to increase biogas production was studied under contract with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Data was compiled on chemical, enzymatic or biological additives that enhance biogas production and/or volatile solids reduction at anaerobic digestion facilities processing biosolids, manure or a combination of these and other feedstocks. Potential digestion inhibitors, additives addition techniques and monitoring plans were identified. The presentation will cover these findings, as well as provide example installation information for each commercially available additive.

Zeynep Erdal is the Regional Technology Leader of CH2M HILL at the firm’s Southern California office. She received her doctoral degree from Virginia Tech, specializing in biological systems. She has led various residuals handling, solids to energy, codigestion and support systems related projects as the project manager and as the technology consultant.

Cheng Fang, Technical University of Denmark
Biogas Production From Potato Processing Wastewater Streams
Potato processing produces by-products called “potato-juice” and “potato-pulp,” which are attractive substrates for biogas reactors. The biogas potential of the potato juice and potato pulp was determined to be 470 and 500 m3CH4/ton-VS (volatile solids) respectively in batch assays. Around 390 m3CH4/ton-VS (309 MJ/ton-potato-juice), corresponding to 600 m3 biogas/ton-VS, assuming a CH4-content of 65 percent in the biogas, have been achieved both from UASB and EGSB reactors at different hydraulic retention times.

Cheng Fang is a PhD candidate with a concentration in Bioconversion from Biomass to Bioenergy at the Institute of Environment & Resources, DTU, Denmark. He holds a Master’s degree in Bio- and Food Technology from the Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University, Sweden. One of his many achievements involves the establishment of a new nutrient removal method to treat wastewater and generate electricity using a Microbial Fuel Cell.

Rich Flammer, Hidden Resources
Skylark Rossetti, Hawaii Island Economic Development Board
Organic Resource Management Strategies
For Island Environment
The Big Island of Hawaii offers a multitude of both challenges and opportunities for compostable discard management. US EPA Region 9 and the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board funded a scope of work that included matching organic residual generators, farmers and island stakeholders with the potential to benefit from the myriad benefits associated with improved management of these resources.

Rich Flammer, Principal of Hidden Resources, has twenty years of hands-on composting experience working extensively in eight U.S. states and Mexico. He has designed, managed, permitted, evaluated, and/or remediated some seventy large-scale composting facilities for both private and public sector clients. He has also been involved in public policy formation, rulemaking development for state composting regulation, composting technology assessment and development, and regional studies evaluating organic resource management.

Jacqueline “Skylark” Rossetti serves as Senior Program Manager at Hawaii Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB). She has been with HIEDB as project manager for the past ten years. The Hawaii Island Economic Development Board is a private non-profit business organization that serves as key liaison to federal, state and county private sector resource programs on economic development projects for the island of Hawaii. Ms. Rossetti understands the many important cultural and economic needs in the islands. She spent more than 39 years in the broadcast media and is known as the Honolulu Skylark, a name synonymous with Hawaiian radio. Ms. Rossetti holds an Associates Arts Degree from San Francisco City College.

Dean Foor, ECOregon
Modeling Financial Viability Of Dairy Biogas Plants
EC Oregon was contracted to perform a series of feasibility studies for the Northwest Dairy Association (NDA). Sx independent studies were conducted to assess the technical and financial viability of on-farm digesters in Oregon. The findings of these individual feasibility studies and the conclusions drawn regarding the potential for broad-scale dairy digester deployment were compiled into a summary report in 2010 for NDA.

Dean C. Foor, PE, established Essential Consulting Oregon, LLC (EC Oregon) in 2005 and holds a B.S. in Civil and Surveying Engineering, as well as a Certificate in Fermentation Science. He has more than 19 years of project management and engineering experience, and is a professional registered engineer and surveyor. He serves as project manager and lead research engineer for EC Oregon, which is dedicated to cultivating renewable biomass energy solutions for agricultural and business communities. EC Oregon provides technical, financial and market feasibility consulting services in the area of anaerobic digestion and biogas plant development.