Raise your mug if you love coffee. For you coffee lovers in Iowa, you can now get your fix from Dave Bess and Anna Erickson’s mobile coffee shop that is fueled by biodiesel. The Iowa City couple has been traveling around the country to public events this summer including the world famous Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) sponsored by …
Propel Offers San Francisco Drivers B20
As diesel vehicles become more popular in the U.S., especially in states such as California, Propel Fuels has been offering biodiesel blends to fuel drivers’ commutes. Today, Propel began selling B20 (20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent low-sulfur diesel) at three of its stations located in the Bay Area (San Francisco). The company plans to add B20 blends to several stations …
Renewable Energy Predicted to Grow Despite Economy
A new report commissioned by Paris-based Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) shows that the renewable energy sector continues to perform well despite the continuing economic recession, incentive cuts and low natural gas prices. In fact, “Renewables 2011 Global Status Report” calculates that renewable energy supplied around 16 percent of global final energy consumption and accounted for …
Principal Solar Launches Solar Library
The solar industry has a new resource for information about the solar industry. Principal Solar has launched the “Definitive Solar Library,” an online resource center dedicated exclusively to solar energy. The company believes this is the first of its kind worldwide. “Efforts to capture the power of the sun at a reasonable cost continue to evolve, positioning solar energy as …
Geothermal Plant Inaugurated in Costa Rica
A second geothermal plant designed and manufactured by Ormat Technologies has been inaugurated in Las Pailas, Costa Rica. Ormat was contracted by Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica “BCIE”, to supply all the power equipment, supervise the installation and conduct the testing and start-up of the 42 MW power plant. The plant will actually be operated by the Costa Rican National …
You Have Or Want An iPad or Other Tablet
I’m very surprised at some of the response to our latest ZimmPoll. Although 37% responding say they have an iPad or other tablet, 33% said they don’t and don’t want one! And we had 30% who said they don’t have one but do want one. However, when you consider that no one had one less than two years ago you …
U.S. Auto Club Endorses Ethanol
The U.S. Auto Club (USAC) made a surprise announcement at the Lucas Oil Raceway last week when they announced they are switching to “Ignite High Performance Ethanol,” an ethanol racing blend distributed by National Biofuels Distribution (NBD). USAC President & CEO Kevin Miller said during his presentation that his organization is “excited to take this direction toward environmentally-friendly fuel usage.” …
Amyris Partners with Kuraray
Amyris is now partnering with Kuraray Co. to develop innovative polymers from Biofene, a renewable hydrocarbon building block that is produced from their technology. As part of the partnership, Kuraray will use Biofene to replace petroleum-derived feedstock such as butadiene and isoprene in the production of certain polymers. Upon the success of the product, the two companies will then enter …
Raleigh N.C. Police Department Converts to AutoGas
The Raleigh, North Carolina police department held a press conference yesterday to announce the successful conversion of 10 police vehicles to be fueled with propane autogas. The conversion took place with the help of Alliance AutoGas. The company outfitted the police department’s Ford Crown Victoria cruisers with dual fuel systems and also installed an on-site autogas fueling station at the …
Illinois Biomass Working Group Formed
The state of Illinois has formed the Illinois Biomass Working Group (IBWG) to study near-term uses for biomass in Illinois. The team is comprised of academics, government, industry and the private sector. Ted Funk, an Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois is one of the founding members and saw the need …