While the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has had no measurable effect on the petroleum markets, it could end up having an impact on the biodiesel industry in this country. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is pouring thousands of gallons of oil into coastal ecosystems and has been designated as an event “of national significance” by President …
Colorado Biodiesel & CO2 Projects Get Federal Grants
A pair of projects in Colorado to help develop renewable energy will be getting some federal money. The Denver Post reports $9.1 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants are hoped to create jobs and speed innovation: OPX Biotechnologies Inc. will receive $6 million to engineer microorganisms to use renewable hydrogen and carbon-dioxide inputs for producing a biodiesel-equivalent fuel at …
Growth Energy Pleased With Obama Visit to Ethanol Plant
Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis gave President Obama a big hug after his speech at the POET ethanol plant in Macon, Missouri on Wednesday. “It’s a great honor to have the president of the United States come out to an ethanol plant and demonstrate again his long support for production of renewable fuels,” Buis said in an interview with Domestic …
Corn Utilization Conference to Feature Ethanol Issues
Indirect land use change and DDGs quality are just two of the ethanol-related topics that will be featured at the 2010 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference scheduled for June 7-9 in Atlanta. Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association is chair of the “Maximizing DDG Quality” technical session. “We are coming off of a very late, wet harvest that presented …
Wind Energy Co. Launches Buoy off New Jersey
Perhaps buoyed by the federal Interior Department’s decision to let an offshore wind energy farm be built off the coast of Massachusetts – the first of its kind in this country – a New Jersey wind energy company has launched a real buoy to test the winds for what might be that state’s first offshore wind farm. The Press of …
Wheelabrator Technologies Buys Waste-to-Energy Plants
A subsidiary of garbage giant Waste Management is buying a public utility’s waste-to-energy facility. Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. has acquired the Southeastern Public Service Authority’s Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant and adjacent waste-to-energy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia for $150 million: The purchase concludes a lengthy process that commenced more than two years ago when SPSA began consideration of a proposal to …
Farm Bureau Supports Extending Biofuel Tax Incentives
Tax incentives play a key role in the development and production of renewable energy, and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging Congress to pass two bills that would extend renewable fuel tax credits for five years. In a statement presented for the record to a House Ways and Means Committee hearing this week on energy tax incentives, AFBF …
Developing Specialized Sorghum for Energy
An Illinois biotech company is working on the development of sorghum varieties specifically suited for energy production. Chromatin, Inc. CEO Daphne Preuss told the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. this week that the company is expanding its technology development portfolio to produce fit-for-purpose sorghum as a renewable feedstock for the biofuels, green power and renewable chemicals sectors. “Feedstock …
Meat Producers Oppose Ethanol Tax Incentives
Major livestock and poultry trade associations sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee this week asking that they allow the blenders’ tax credit and associated tariff for ethanol to expire at the end of this year. The request was made in a letter signed by industry trade associations, including the American Meat Institute, the National Turkey Federation, …
Purdue Report Disputes Indirect Land Use Findings
A recently completed state-of-the-art analysis from Purdue University concludes that the California Air Resources Board (ARB) overestimated the indirect land use change (ILUC) impact of grain-based ethanol by a factor of two in developing its Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) one year ago. The Renewable Fuels Association sent a letter sent this week to ARB Chair Mary Nichols pointing out …