Propel Fuels, a west coast retailer of ethanol and biodiesel, has received $11 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission to build and operate 75 self-serve alternative fuel stations across the state over the next two years. This article in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal says the effort will reduce the amount …
Advanced Biofuel Payments to Foreign Owners, Non-Rural Plants
It might be green and renewable, but it won’t necessarily be DOMESTIC fuel. This article from Biofuels Digest says the Obama Administration will allow advanced biofuels plants owned by foreign companies and those plants in non-rural areas Advanced Biofuels Payments: In Washington, the (USDA’s) Rural Business-Cooperative Service Agency announced that it is amending the rules for the Advanced Biofuel Payment …
Biodiesel Company Lands California Energy Grant
A California-based biodiesel company has won a nearly $900 thousand grant from that state’s Energy Commission. Biodiesel Industries “ARIES© Bioenergy Project” is a multi-year project using algae to produce biodiesel in an integrated energy system monitored by the ARIES platform. ARIES, which stands for Automated Real-time, Remote, Integrated Energy System, was developed with Aerojet to incorporate advanced automation control capabilities: …
Lack of Biodiesel Incentive Closes Another Plant
Just in case you forgot (fat chance of that!), the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive has not been renewed after expiring at the end of 2009. And an estimated 23,000 biodiesel workers (and counting) have been laid off nationwide. The latest victims are workers at a biodiesel plant once touted as the largest in New England. This Times Argus article …
Sapphire VP: Feds Inadequate in Algae-Biofuels Funding
While there’s been lots of talk lately about some of the private investment in algae-biofuels operations, one company official says the feds aren’t doing their part to support the green fuels. Just recently, Sapphire Energy benefited from $105 million in Department of Energy and Agriculture grants … the largest federal government award for algae ever given. But the Voice of …
Utah Field Holds Promise for US Army’s Biodiesel Efforts
A small patch of safflower near the Salt Lake City International Airport has caught the attention of the U.S. Army as part of the military’s efforts to implement more biodiesel into its operations. The Salt Lake Tribune says about 20 acres of the prickly leafed crop, planted as part of Salt Lake County’s urban-farming initiative, could be a feedstock for …
Navy Looks to 50% Renewables, Marines Want it Locally
The U.S. Navy is looking to have half of its total fuel use come renewable energy sources by 2020, while the Marine Corps wants those sources, particularly the biofuels, to come from sources near its bases. The New York Times reports that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus wants to dramatically cut the Navy and Marine Corps’ dependence on fossil fuels, especially …
Energy Dept. Extends Loan Application Deadline
Renewable energy projects will have a little more time to apply for federal government loan guarantees. Biomass Magazine reports the U.S. Department of Energy has moved the deadline for the July 2009 energy efficiency, renewable energy and advanced transmission and distribution technologies solicitations six weeks later to October 5th of this year: The newly-created Round 8, Part I of the …
Kerry Proposes New Biodiesel Tax Break Renewal Route
The renewal of the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit seems to have been left in the doldrums as the U.S. Senate went to August recess without agreement on the number of amendments to the Small Business Bill, which contained a renewal of the incentive. But Biodiesel Magazine reports that a whole new bill, “The Clean Energy Technology Leadership Act of 2010,” …
Missouri Congressman Supports Biodiesel Tax Credit
Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt, fresh off a primary win to be the Republican candidate for Senator, stopped at the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) in Jefferson City, Missouri on Friday to voice his support for reinstating the biodiesel tax credit which expired at the end of 2009. “I’m very concerned that we continue to see good, job-producing tax credits in the …