Following this morning’s opening plenary session at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, Tom Buis, CEO, Growth Energy, met with members of the press. He gave us an overview of where things stand on a number of issues facing the ethanol industry before taking questions. I’ve posted the overview for you to listen to. Tom’s farm is right down the road from …
New Initiative Launched to Spur Aviation Biofuels in Europe
The Paris air show is taking place this week and biofuels have taken to the air in a dramatic fashion. Today, the European Commission and Airbus, along with several leading European airlines and European biofuel producers, have launched a new industry wide initiative to try and speed up the commercialization of aviation biofuels throughout the country. “Biofuel Flightpath,” is a …
E85 Station Opens in Magnolia, North Carolina
Magnolia, North Carolina is the newest home of an E85 station, just off of Interstate 40. This marks the state’s 16th E85 station, but the first one funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act via the Carolina Blue Skies and Green Jobs Initiative. The official grand opening took place on June 17 and 90 guests from the local community …
Biofuels Survive G20 Ag Ministers Meeting
Biofuels survived a challenge on the international level this week as agriculture ministers meeting in France declined to recommend countries limit production to avoid impacting food prices. The agreement reached by the ministers mainly focuses on creation of an agricultural market information system and removing barriers to food exports for humanitarian purposes. The ministers did call for further analysis of …
Navy Seahawk Helicopter Flies with Algae
The US Navy has successfully flown an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter test flight using a 50/50 blend of biojet fuel using Solazyme’s Solajet HRJ-5, derived 100 percent from algae. This test flight, which took place on June 20, marks the first military aircraft ever to fly on algal-based biojet fuel. Just last week, ASTM International gave preliminary specs and approval for …
Solena To Provide BioJet Fuel to ATA Members
Solena Fuels has received multiple letters of intent from members of Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (ATA) to supply biojet fuel made from biomass produced in Northern California. The biojet fuel will be produced at Solena’s “GreenSky California” biomass-to-liquids biorefinery in Santa Clara County and utilize post-recycled urban and agricultural wastes to produce nearly 16 million gallons each year …
US Ag Secretary to Defend Biofuels at G20 Meeting
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he intends to defend biofuels at the G-20 Summit of Agricultural Ministers in Paris this week, stressing their importance to the economy and the environment. “America is working on developing new feedstocks that don’t pit food versus fuel but that create new rural economic opportunities and allow us to continue to expand on our efforts …
Millons Spent on Lobbying for VEETC Reform
Last week was a crazy week in DC as several amendments to alter or kill the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) were voted on by the Senate. While the first vote was in favor of ethanol (it defeated the Coburn amendment), the industry took a hit when Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) bill was passed, essentially killing VEETC and the …
Book Review – Life Without Oil
Woe is a country who can’t break its dependence on foreign oil. But how do you make such a bold move when our entire society is built upon its wares? And even more so, how do you break the chains when there are no other alternatives? This are some of the topics discussed in this week’s book, “Life Without Oil: …
Blaming Biofuels for Higher Food Prices One-Sided
In an effort to curb global rising food prices and food insecurity concerns, members of G20 nations will be meeting in Paris this week. A major focal point of discussion is set to be biofuels and earlier this month a report from Oxfam concluded that biofuels were part of the reason food prices are rising. The ethanol industry deems this …