The British Virgin Islands, Columbia, Dominica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Turks and Caicos have joined the Carbon War Room and Rocky Mountain Institute’s ‘Ten Island Renewable Challenge‘. The campaign is designed to help get the islands off fossil fuels as well as move forward with projects for schools and hospitals. The commitments were complemented by news that …
Support for the RFS- Personal, Powerful
With the time period over for comments regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard proposal, many people are asking: What’s next? The EPA is now tasked with reviewing all the comments and this will prove to be quite an undertaking as more than 40,000 comments were submitted. It is anticipated that it will take several months before …
BioEnergy Bytes
The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman has announced the 20 collegiate teams selected to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 to take place in the Orange County Great Park. The 20 worldwide teams will now begin the nearly two-year process of building solar-powered houses that are affordable, innovative and highly energy-efficient. The Commercial Algae …
Growth Energy is Taking it to the Streets
Growth Energy is holding its fifth annual executive leadership conference at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona, from February 27, 2014 through March 2, 2014. The conference will open on Thursday at 7:00 am and will showcase a number of speakers, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. During the opening day of the conference, there will be key addresses, …
Biodiesel Maker BIOX Posts Strong 1st Quarter
The owner of Canada’s largest biodiesel refinery had an encouraging first quarter of the fiscal year. The Wall Street Journal reports that BIOX nearly doubled sales of the green fuel from October to December of 2013 compared with the same period a year earlier, thanks to improving fundamentals in the biodiesel market north of the border and a Canadian province’s …
London Coffee Shops to be Next Biodiesel Source
Not too long ago, we told you how researchers at the University of Cincinnati had figured out how to get oil from coffee grounds to make into biodiesel. It looks like that good idea has caught on overseas, as this article from the UK’s Guardian tells how a London entrepreneur is going great guns with the same idea in a …
Farm Economy Vs. Overall Economy
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What’s best in the new farm bill?” More than a third of our respondents agree that crop insurance tops the charts, along with nothing. We see a bit of an oxymoron there! Our poll results: Crop insurance – 31.25% None – 31.25% Conservation – 9.38% Rural Development – 9.38% Energy – 6.25% Specialty Crops …
Senators Introduce Bill to Reinstate Biodiesel Tax Incentive
Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) have introduced a bill to extend the expired biodiesel tax incentive for three years. The bill, S. 2021, would extend the tax incentive until 2017. In response to the bill’s introduction, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) called on Congress to move swiftly on the tax legislation. “On behalf of biodiesel producers across …
Crescent Solar Energy Project Commissioned
SolarReserve has confirmed that the 110 megawatt (MW) Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project located near Tonopah, Nevada, has entered the plant commissioning phase. According to the company, Crescent Dunes is the first utility-scale facility in the world to feature advanced molten salt power tower energy storage capabilities. The Crescent Dunes Project is more than five times the capacity output of …
BioEnergy Bytes
JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. has announced that it has supplied solar PV modules to CSEM-uae, an independent, non-profit Swiss-UAE joint venture company for applied research. The modules will be used for CSEM’s Solar Outdoor Laboratory, an R&D and innovation center for renewable energy in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE. Located in the northern Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and built to develop and …