There seems to be no end to the rhetoric bouncing around between agricultural experts, critics and media about what’s driving food costs. Biofuels are still one of the most common scapegoats for why we’re paying more for our food than ever before. But the Farm Foundation wants to get to the root of it all. That’s why it sought out …
Highlights of Renewable Energy Conference Posted
U.S. government officials are following up on the success of last March’s Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) with a report of that three-day conference. This press release from the USDA announces the launch of the WIREC Conference Report at www.WIREC2008.gov, as well as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s release of a preliminary impact assessment of the pledges submitted …
Florida Focuses on Farm to Fuel
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer will help kick off the third annual Florida Farm to Fuel summit this week in Orlando as keynote speaker Wednesday morning, July 30. Other speakers include Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Brian Dean with the Interamerican Ethanol Commission, Canadian Renewable Fuels Association president Gordon Quaiattini, and US Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen. The summit brings …
Company to Use Sugarcane Ethanol for Chemicals
A Florida biotech company has created a new subsidiary to use sugarcane ethanol for chemical production. Industrial Biotechnology Corporation has formed Renewable Chemicals Corporation to produce chemicals utilizing sugar cane based ethanol as feedstock source material instead of petroleum. According to an IBC news release, the company “plans to produce these renewable chemicals customized to the specific sustainability and pricing …
Study Credits Ethanol Policy With 25 Percent of Corn Price Hike
One of the more significant findings of a Purdue University study released this week on food price drivers is that ethanol policy is only responsible for $1 of the $4 price increase in corn prices since 2004. Economist Wally Tyner says between 2004 and the beginning of 2008, oil went from $40 per barrel to $120 per barrel at the …
Ethanol Report on Food Price Study
The Farm Foundation study on food price drivers released this week in Washington DC was the focus of a forum held at the National Press Club. This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features comments from the Farm Foundation forum and report on “What’s Driving Food Prices?” Featured are Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin, Purdue University economist Wally Tyner, and University …
CNN Starts Biodiesel-Fueled Road Trip
At a time when fuel prices are through the roof, a major American news organization is sponsoring a road trip across the country… running on biodiesel. CNN.com producer Cody McCloy and web developer Brian Hardy jumped in a 1978 International Harvester Scout and kicked off the two-week trip on Friday, going from San Francisco to Atlanta. Starting Monday morning at …
New Company Looks to Lead U.S. Hydrogen Market
A new company has been formed that looks to lead the U.S. hydrogen market. Eden Hydrogen Inc. is the product of the merging of two American subsidiaries of Australian-based Energy Ltd… Hythane Company of Denver, Colorado and HyRadix of Des Plaines, Illinois. This story from the Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch web site says the new company will be headquartered …
California Plant to Make Ethanol from Waste
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels of California has been given the go-ahead to build the nation’s first commercial biowaste-to-ethanol facility in Los Angeles County. The county’s regional planning commission unanimously agreed to issue a zoning permit to BlueFire Ethanol to build a $30 million facility in Lancaster, located north of Los Angeles. The plant will be built next to a landfill and …