Monday, March 20

The 22nd Annual
BioCycle West Coast Conference 2006
Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy
Building Sustainable Cities & Communities
March 20, 21, 22, 2006
Portland, Oregon
Portland Marriott Downtown

REGISTER NOW!
Click here for a pdf file of the conference brochure.

Reserve your hotel room at the Portland Marriott Downtown today.
Request the Special BioCycle Conference Rate of $115 single/double per night.
Call 503-226-7600 This rate expires February 27, 2006.

Updated 2/24

MORNING 9:00 AM — 12:15PM

Plenary Session

SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

Present And Future Of Renewable Power In Oregon
Overview of renewable energy resources in Oregon, including biomass, wind and solar; Impact of investment by Energy Trust of Oregon; Potential of biomass as major power source in coming decades.
John Reynolds, Energy Trust of Oregon

Welcome To Biomass Conversion
From tax credits to program research, from woody biomass to manure digestion, specific advances in Oregon illustrate the power of policies and feedstocks.
Michael Grainey, Oregon Department of Energy

Building Sustainability Into Soil, Water And Community
Positive blend of “policy, partners and people” fosters community spirit to tackle big issues; Fostering links that lead to organics diversion, improved water quality, food recovery and job creation.
Susan Anderson, Director, Portland Office of Sustainable Development

Food Recovery In A Sustainable Society
Preventing food loss that costs the American economy $100 billion annually; How to stop this major impact — on the farm, in transit, at the supermarket and in the fast food (and slow food) industry; Food recovery, and role of food residuals composting.
Timothy Jones, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, Contemporary Archaeology Project, University of Arizona

Concurrent Session A

ORGANICS RECYCLING AND FUTURE OF MSW MANAGEMENT

Waste Management: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Historical analysis of MSW management; Why organics recycling has succeeded and source reduction and recycling of manufactured product waste has failed; Benefits to communities to phase out welfare for product waste and concentrate on organics recycling.
Bill Sheehan, Product Policy Institute

Refocusing The Municipal Recycling Message
Lessons learned from the past 60 years of municipal recycling; Economics of recycling organics versus manufactured goods; Practical strategies to make commercial and residential composting the centerpiece of MSW management.
Steven Sherman, Environmental Science Associates

Managing Manufactured Product Waste
Local exit strategies for phasing out welfare for product waste; Tools local communities can employ, including disposal bans and fee structures, zoning and business licensing; Purchasing and lobbying for state and federal policies.
Helen Spiegelman, Product Policy Institute

Concurrent Session B

MEASURING BIOENERGY POTENTIAL IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Energy Potential In Western Forests As A National Template
Quantifying fuel potential in forest ecosystems at investor/ecosystem landscapes; Levelizing supply between multiple public forest landowners to reinvite investment back into rural forest-based communities; Implementing strategies to reduce fire risk.
Catherine Mater, Mater Engineering

Biomass Inventory, Bioenergy Assessment For Washington State
Inventory of available biomass — including crop and forest residues, manure, food packing/processing waste and municipal sources — identifies annual production of over 16.9 million tons of underutilized dry biomass with energy recovery value of 15.5 billion kWh of electrical energy; Using data to identify renewable energy project development.
Craig Frear, Washington State University
Mark Fuchs, Washington Department of Ecology

Emerging Opportunities For Energy Generation
Available feedstocks for biomass; Fuel markets and processes; Comparing alternatives, including anaerobic digestion, gasification, fuel cells; Perspectives.
George Savage, CalRecovery, Inc.

Afternoon 1:45 PM — 6:00 PM

Concurrent Session A

MUNICIPAL AGENCIES ACCELERATE COMPOSTING

New 60% Recycling Program Initiatives Expand Organics Diversion
New city policies lead Seattle to expand curbside residential organics and commercial food residuals collection, along with other specified materials; Program recruitment, education/customer feedback; Complying with Health Department requirements.
Gabriella Uhlar-Heffner, Seattle Public Utilities

Building Composting Capacity For Residential, Commercial Streams
Adding food residuals, soiled paper to residential green waste collection programs in Alameda County; Siting, design of 600 tons/day composting facility to process residential, commercial and institutional organics.
Brian Mathews, Stopwaste.org, Alameda County Waste Management Authority

Targeting Commercial, Institutional Organics
City of Portland and Metro regional government focus on commercial and institutional generators to achieve state-mandated recovery goals; Working with haulers; Recruiting businesses; Training and source separation strategies.
Babe O’Sullivan, Portland Office of Sustainable Development

Brainstorming Program Challenges And Solutions
Session speakers discuss challenges related to collection, use of compostable bags and food serviceware, program economics; Identifying strategies to boost tonnages diverted, reduce plastic and glass contamination.
Panel Discussion

ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF MSW ORGANICS

Anaerobic Digestion: European-Style Options For SSO Streams
Applying experience of managing municipal organics in Europe to North American source separated residential and commercial organics streams; Centralized versus distributed solutions and integrating energy outputs and post-digestion composting; Biosecurity and regulations; Wet versus dry digestion systems.
Robin Szmidt, Active Compost Ltd.

Siting And Sizing Digesters To Process Increasing Volumes
Capturing energy from diverted food residuals in the San Francisco Bay area; Tapping capacity at wastewater treatment plant, siting new AD plant; Compatibility with composting.
Chris Choate, Norcal Waste Systems

Practical, Profitable Ways To Link Organics Recycling To Energy
Policies and technologies used in Europe for biological treatment; Relevance of three stream sort to anaerobic digestion systems; How ordinances and composting technologies relate to renewable energy.
Luis Diaz, CalRecovery, Inc.

Afternoon 1:45 PM — 6:00 PM

Concurrent Session B

SUSTAINABLE STEPS TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE WITH ORGANICS RECOVERY

Community Models And Key Ingredients
Critical components of initiatives that put cities and regions on the path to energy independence; Role of biomass energy; Finding the right mix of technologies, infrastructure, public policies, and investors to build sustainability into local programs.
Jack Werner, New Uses Council

Utility District’s Energy Generation Journey
How a regional utility can use organics from the MSW stream and agriculture to create a financially and environmentally sustainable energy infrastructure; Public/private partnerships to invest and manage infrastructure, including anaerobic digesters.
Michael DeAngelis, Sacramento (CA) Municipal Utility District

Funding, Designing Projects In Renewable Power
Outcome of competitive grant program to fund projects fueled by wood and forest waste, landfill gas, digester gas and other biomass resources; Biopower program strategy, 2006-2007 initiatives.
Adam Serchuk, Energy Trust of Oregon

Achieving Sustainable Economics From Life Cycle Costs
Cost-benefit evaluation of organics management for reuse and energy to expand programs; Tools and critical data to implement analysis; Understanding impact of pollution reduction and alternatives uses.
Jeffrey Morris, Sound Resource Management Group

CROP CONNECTIONS TO ENERGY RECOVERY

Energy And Compost Recovery At Centralized Facility
Processing and marketing diverse feedstocks; Adapting technology to fit needs.
George DeVore, Port of Tillamook Bay Digester

Energy Crops Yield Biodiesel Feedstock, Animal Feed
Washington State farmer expands research initiative to grow canola and other oil seed crops for production of biodiesel; Use of municipal biosolids as crop fertilizer; Analyzing yields, quantities of seed required for large-scale biodiesel production.
Ted Durfey, Natural Selection Farms

Agriculture's Opportunities In Biofuels
Key components of infrastructure needed to sustain a biodiesel industry; Assessing availability of raw materials, production capacity, product demand, delivery systems and risks.
Hal Collins, USDA-ARS

6:00 PM — 7:00 PM

Evening Reception