Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has unveiled his plan to his state legislature to increase the use of renewable fuels in Pennsylvania. Now, to follow up that call, Rendell has made a call to Beaver County, PA at will be the biggest producer of biodiesel in the state.
This story in the Beaver County Times-Allegheny Times has more details about Rendell’s visit to the plant which will provide up to 30 million gallons a year of biodiesel when it is running at its full potential:
Rendell used his appearance at the grand opening of Pennsylvania Biodiesel in Potter Township to reiterate the plan he presented in Harrisburg on Monday, one that would set aside money for development of a fund for alternative energy grants and a requirement that will boost the production and sales of alternative fuels in the state.
“This is one of the most important plant openings I have ever attended,” Rendell said. “When this plant reaches capacity, it will be producing about 9 percent of the national supply of biodiesel.”
Rendell’s plan has two components. First, the PennSecurity Fuels Initiative would require that all diesel or gasoline sold in the state have a percentage of ethanol or biodiesel by 2017 and that the state be in a position to produce 1 billion gallons of alternative fuels by the same date.
You can read more about Rendell’s energy initiative by clicking here.
Midwest farmers and truckers, as well as environmental enthusiasts, have long admired the green benefits of biodiesel… green because of how clean it is and green because of the money it saves its users. Biodiesel gets 30 percent better mileage than gasoline (although, I realize the engines are different, and you can’t make a direct comparison between the two).
The article goes on to say how the biggest player is Renewable Energy Group, a biodiesel plant builder and producer from this author’s home area. Accounting for more than a quarter of the total American biodiesel production, REG is poised to increase its total capacity to 340 million gallons a year by the end of next year… thankls in part to its relationship with soybean growers. And it’s also ready to make a hit on Wall Street:
CNN.com has an interactive special report called 
Congressman Randy Neugebauer from Texas has proposed and the U.S. House has approved a study to look into his measure to put a public database online to find out what kind of wind turbines could go up without causing problems for aviation sites.
The Philadelphia Eagles don’t just wear green jerseys (although, what was up with those UGLY uniforms this past weekend?). They also are living the green lifestyle.
The Wisconsin Biodiesel Association is opening its monthly meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 25th at 9:30 a.m. at the Wisconsin DNR office in Madison to the general public.
Students can also learn about the series’ partnership with the ethanol industry through interactive displays and experience what it’s like to drive an IndyCar Series car by testing out an IndyCar Series simulator.