U.S. governors from Washington to New York to Texas are asking Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to change the way USDA reports the use of corn for ethanol production. In a letter sent to Vilsack this week, the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition urged the change to reflect the fact that corn for ethanol usage produces livestock feed in the form of …
Ethanol Interests Urge Defeat of VEETC Amendment
Legislation that would immediately repeal the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, or VEETC, is drawing criticism from ethanol interests. U.S. Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) this week introduced the repeal as an amendment to the small business reauthorization bill, currently under consideration in the Senate. “The ethanol tax credit is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and …
You Love Facebook
It looks like Facebook is the big dog in the social media world according to you. Our last ZimmPoll asked the question, “Which social network do you use the most.” A majority say Facebook, 64%, followed by Twitter, 16%, YouTube, 8%, Linkedin, 5%, Other, 5%, Classmates.com, 1%, Flickr, !% and MySpace, 0%. I can’t remember when I’ve checked my MySpace …
Petroleum, Not Biodiesel to Blame in Heating Oil Issue
Some recent issues with biodiesel-blended heating oil in the Northeast U.S. might be because of a bad batch of petroleum, not the biodiesel mixed with it. This blog post from Biodiesel Magazine says that the issue came up at this week’s meeting of the Oilheat Council of New Hampshire, where some members of the group had issues with coking of …
Cobalt CEO: Biochems More Profitable than Biofuels
The head of a company that produces biochemicals and biofuels says the chemical market, although smaller, is much more profitable than the renewable fuel market. According to this piece from Biofuels Digest, during the recent BioPro Expo and Conference in Atlanta, Cobalt Technologies CEO Rick Wilson questioned the wisdom of focusing on biofuels when the better money is in biochemicals: …
New Jersey Utility Installs Rooftop Solar Array
New Jersey’s oldest and largest publicly owned utility has put in a 921-kilowatt rooftop solar at the power provider’s Central Division Headquarters. With some help from Solis Partners, a leading developer and integrator of commercial solar power systems, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) put in the U.S.-made SolarWorld flat, glass-plated crystalline panels and Solyndra thin film panels, part …
US Oilseed Growers Protest EU Biofuel Requirement
Oilseed growers, led by the American Soybean Association (ASA), have raised concerns with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk over the European Union’s (EU) Renewable Energy Directive (RED), particularly the part that is keeping American soybeans out of Europe for biofuel production. The ASA is asking to meet with Vilsack’s and …
Finding Homes for Biofuels Alongside the Beaten Path
While biofuels development and production have been a bit different, some of the latest efforts to find room to grow non-food feedstocks for biofuels are being found alongside the beaten path. In this case, we’re talking about using areas, such as ditches and medians along the nation’s highways, as good spots to grow the raw materials to keep the cars …
1st Wind Farm in South Texas Holds Dedication Event
The Cedro Hill wind project, located in Bruni a rural south Texas town, went online in December 2010. Today, Edison Mission Group (EMG), a subsidiary of Edison International, officially dedicated the first wind farm in the Southern part of the state. When the conditions are favorable, the wind farm has the capacity to generate up to 150 megawatts (MW) of …
“Oz Goes Electric” Tour Kicks Off
The Victorian government is participating in an Electric Vehicle Trial and as part of creating awareness about electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia the “Oz Goes Electric” tour is kicking off on March 16. The featured EV is the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car, that will travel 3,000 kilometers along the Eastern coast of the country to demonstrate that electric …