In what should be a cautionary tale to American lawmakers who might want to raise revenues from biodiesel sales, a leader of Germany’s biofuels industry says high taxes on biodiesel in that country are killing the green fuel there. This article from Forexyard.com quotes Peter Schrum, president of biofuels industry association BBK, saying that Germany’s nearly 5 million tonnes annual …
$300 Mil in Stimulus Bucks Stimulates Alternative Fuels
Nearly $300 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act… aka the “Stimulus Bill”… funds are being handed out by the U.S. Department of Energy to replace or change more than 9,000 vehicles so they will burn alternative fuels and/or make them more fuel efficient, as well as establish nearly 550 alternative refueling stations across the U.S.. Energy Secretary Steven Chu …
Emerson is Choice for Dynamic Fuels Biodiesel Plant
A Louisiana biodiesel plant that needs intense heat to turn animal fats and waste materials into the green fuel has chosen a Texas company that specializes in the process control system that uses hydrogen to create the heat needed. Biodiesel Magazine reports that the 75-million-gallon-a-year Dynamic Fuels renewable diesel plant… a 50-50 joint venture between Tyson Foods Inc. and Syntroleum …
Advanced Technologies to Improve Wind Turbines
Getting inspiration from a fish, researchers are looking at making wind turbine blades out of advanced materials that will change shape to make the systems more efficient and longer lasting. This article from U.S. News & World Report says the blades with changing aerodynamic profiles will best suit whatever the prevailing wind conditions bring: “The idea was born from a …
Texas to Run More Vehicles on Alternatives
More state vehicles in Texas will be running on something other than the non-renewable petroleum the state is known for. This post on Examiner.com says the new law, effective September 1st, will require at least half of the 27,000-vehicle state fleet will run on alternative fuels 80 percent of the time: “House Bill 432 addresses the fact that our state …
Mississippi Firm Opens First of Three Biodiesel Plants
Officials at a biodiesel plant in Mississippi have finished the commissioning process for the 8-million-gallon-a-year facility. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says Mississippi Investment Petroleum Co. LLC (MIPCO) bought the plant from Tri-State Petroleum Products in Houston, Mississippi and retrofitted it to produce the green fuel from poultry fat and waste vegetable oil: The Houston, Miss. [facility], is actually the …
Ethanol Co-Product Could Make Fertilizer
The leftovers from an ethanol co-product could be used as a fertilizer, according to research being done at South Dakota State University. When the ethanol by-product known as dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is heated at high temperatures under limited oxygen to make synthesis gas, or syngas, the remains are a fine, dust-like ash. SDSU Soil Testing Laboratory manager …
More Green Collar Jobs for Iowa
Iowa Governor Chet Culver is taking action to create more green jobs in Iowa. Culver signed an executive order last week which creates the Iowa Green Jobs Task Force. “In recent years, thanks to our efforts in biofuels and wind energy, we have created thousands of green-collar jobs for Iowans,” said Governor Culver. “However, if we are to expand these …
Green Fuels from Grass and Leaves
A newly proposed collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and the City of Naperville, Illinois would convert “landscape waste”—essentially, grass and leaf trimmings—into one of several different environmentally friendly fuels, including ethanol, bioelectricity and hydrogen. This new partnership, known as the “Green Fuels Depot,” provides “a golden opportunity for Argonne to be associated with one of …