..and the water and waste discussion continued.

It is an extremely hot Saturday in LA. The Team is off work, most of us trying to escape the heat wave by going to the beach or find a pool. Our search for water fits well with Mardi's continued reporting from yesterday's lunch;

Water issues were discussed as well, focusing on increasingly limited supplies that are forcing us all to rethink our use of water in Los Angeles and southern California-at-large.

Göran Eriksson, president of esi Techtrans, Inc., who represent’s Sweden’s Purac/Läkeby Water Group, talked about biogas to pipeline quality as very energy-efficient, and he noted that Southern California Gas Company-affiliated Sempra Energy Utilities has a new pilot project that will initiate incentives for California drivers with an aim to cut the “carbon footprint.”

Robert Longo of Waste Management Company, based in Scottsdale, said that clarity is needed now to find solutions for companies, and he talked about innovative new technologies that utilize waste to create energy. Kevin Best, CEO of Real Energy in northern California, cited California’s issues of regulatory certainty and inefficient waste water plants. He added that California is now ripe for investment, and that cow manure and animal waste conversion to energy is the new “liquid gold,” overriding solar energy in effectiveness.

Coby Skye of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works said that Los Angeles is at the forefront of developing new technology to turn waste into energy and fuel products. He noted that AB 32 (on Global Warming) is now the “driving force in California for every regulation and decision leading to immediate and significant action to reduce greenhouse gases.” IVL’s president Björn Lundberg had the final word, stating that waste as a resource, especially organic waste, including restaurant waste, to produce biogas “is good business.”