The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is joining with the newly-formed Growth Energy group. EPIC Executive Director Toni Nuernberg made the official announcement today that the organization’s board of directors is recommending a transition plan to the membership for the two groups to combine. “The mission of EPIC’s formation— growing ethanol awareness through public relations, marketing and promotions — will …
WA Supreme Court Green Lights Wind Farm
Washington’s State Supreme Court has cleared the way for a wind farm that had been in limbo during a dispute between local residents and the governor. The Seattle Times reports that the unanimous decision confirmed that Gov. Chris Gregoire had authority to approve a Kittitas County wind farm over the objections of local officials: The project, from developers Horizon Wind …
Minnesota Offers Biodiesel Blending Grants
The State of Minnesota is offering $300,000 in grants to help its biodiesel industry. This story from the Alexandria (MN) Echo Press says the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is accepting proposals for grants for owners of facilities that supply petroleum products to customers who sell, use, or transport fuel in the state of Minnesota: The facilities should be located …
Sustainability Forum for Biodiesel
The National Biodiesel Board, the foremost advocate for the biodiesel industry in the U.S., has brought together some of the nation’s leaders to work on sustainable solutions for this country’s energy challenges. A symposium in St. Louis this week featured the NBB’s Sustainability Task Force, a group put together last February at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Orlando, …
Ethanol Report from Cellulosic Summit
The third annual Cellulosic Ethanol Summit was held this week in Coral Gables, Florida and Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen was once again chairman of the summit. In this “Ethanol Report” podcast, Dinneen discusses a number of issues – including the race to commercialize cellulosic ethanol, the new administration, getting more flex fuel vehicles on the road, …
Indy Chooses Brazilian Ethanol
The domestic ethanol industry is pleading with the Indy Racing League to reconsider the decision to make Brazil the official ethanol supplier for the 23 IndyCar Series races. In a letter to IRL commercial division president Terry Angstadt this week, Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen implored the IRL to “at least ensure that the Indianapolis 500 be run on …
Wind to Power Texas Wal-Marts
In one of the largest investments of wind energy by a U.S. retailer, mega-seller Wal-Mart has announced it will buy 226 kilowatt-hours of wind power from Duke Energy for about 360 stores and distribution centers in Texas… around 15 percent of the electricity those places use. The Washington Post reports that the the four-year agreement will take out of the …
PA Biodiesel Refiner to Star on Discovery
As if I didn’t need another reason to stay glued to my couch watching the Discovery Channel (Dirty Jobs, Survivorman, Mythbusters… what more could a guy want?), now Pennsylvania’s first large-scale biodiesel producer will be featured on the popular cable channel. This story from eMediaWire.com says Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC will have its national primetime debut sometime next year: “Shades …
Nova: Testing Shows Our Readiness for RFS’ Biodiesel Portion
Officials with Houston, Texas-based Nova Biosource Fuels, Inc., say that testing of their variety of biodiesel shows they will be ready when the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) for biodiesel usage is increased to 500 million gallons in 2009. This company press release says Nova’s biodiesel has passed the Cold Soak Filtration Test for more than a year. Biodiesel under ASTM …