The government wants to know more about the biodiesel production operations in this country.
This story from Biodiesel Magazine says the U.S. Energy Information Administration wants a mandatory biodiesel survey. The information would be gathered in compliance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which directed collection of information on biofuels:
The survey would collect data on biodiesel and coproduct production, sales and tax credits, and feedstocks. “The survey is given to all registered biodiesel producers,” said Marie LaRiviere, Energy Information Administration spokeswoman.
The survey would be the first of its kind, although similar information has been gathered by the EIA in the past. “EIA has, in the past, estimated some of the data we will be collecting based on, among other things, program reports collected by the [USDA] Commodity Credit Corporation,” LaRiviere said, who added that the CCC program ended in 2005. “This survey will provide a more complete statistical picture of the biodiesel industry and provide it on a regular monthly basis.”
In addiition, the agency is also looking to collect historical data for a one-time supplement.
Sarah Brechbill, Purdue University, got to put her masters degree project on the stage today here at the Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. She looked at the cost to get biomass to a plant and specifically looked at switchgrass and corn stover.
We hear a lot about co-products with ethanol production like the DDGS but what about in cellulosic ethanol production? Well, Danielle Julie Carrier, Arkansas State University is doing work on that subject.
During our last session of the day here at the Farm Foundation, Transition To A Bio Economy Conference, our speakers talked about some feedstock and co-product issues of ethanol production. First up was Abhishek Goel, North Dakota State University. He did work on using dry peas to supplement corn in an ethanol plant. The idea was to reduce supply risk and increase profitability.
On the subject of locating a biorefinery we had another presentation on the subject here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. This one was by David Perkis, Purdue University.
Besides those out working in the industry we also heard from some university students today at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. Lance Andrew Stewart is a grad student at the University of Tennessee. He did a very technical presentation on locating ethanol plants.
We had USDA Rural Development represented here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference by Tony Crooks. He works with their rural business cooperatives program and has done a lot of work with communities in the area of ethanol and biodiesel.
The luncheon speaker at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference focused on managing risk. Paul Willems works for 
Two key words in a presentation at the Transition To A Bio Economy Conference were flexibility and diversification. These are important to managing risk, especially in R&D for renewable fuels.