What is believed to be the nation’s first school bus to run on a biodiesel blend was put out to pasture at the end of the 2010-11 school year, according to the National Biodiesel Board. When Medford, New Jersey’s 1998 International school bus retired at the end of June, it reached a milestone in the process. The bus was the …
Effort to Block 15% Ethanol Waiver in the House
An effort that would prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from implementing its approved waiver for E15 ethanol blends in America’s fuel supply is being led by Reps. John Sullivan (R-OK) and Gary Peters (D-MI). Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis says they intend to fight against an amendment to the FY 2012 Department of the Interior and EPA funding bills …
Canadian Waste Oil Biodiesel Facility to Open
A commercial-scale biodiesel processing facility is opening this week in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, Canada For the past six years, the Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-operative has been supplying its members with 100% biodiesel processed elsewhere from recycled cooking oil. With the introduction of this new community biodiesel processor, the co-op will now be taking waste cooking oil from area …
DOE Biomass Conference This Week
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will keynote the Department of Energy 4th annual Biomass Conference on Tuesday. This year’s conference, Biomass 2011, will focus on topics surrounding the use of biomass as a replacement for petroleum to supply the energy, products, and power markets. The Biomass 2011 theme will explore the new horizons of bioenergy technologies …
Former Iowa First Lady Runs for Congress on Energy Issues
Wind energy and biofuels are part of the campaign for Congress launched this week by former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, from supporting biofuels and wind power, to bringing broadband internet to our rural communities,” Vilsack says in her campaign YouTube video. Her website, ChristieVilsackForIowa.com, features a rural wind farm in the …
Nebraska Ethanol Workers Earn More
It pays well to be an ethanol plant worker in Nebraska. The Nebraska Ethanol Board reports that wage growth in that state’s ethanol sector outpaced all industry wage growth in the past decade, increasing by more than 58%. According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, average pay in the ethanol sector has increased from $35,479 in 2000 to $56,158 in …
Scouting for Biofuels Crops in Indian Creek Watershed
The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is looking for the best biofuels crops to grow in the northeast Illinois Indian Creek Watershed. During a recent field tour of the watershed sponsored by the Conservation Technology Information Center, Argonne agronomist Cristina Negri said they are looking at alternative crops that can efficiently use nitrogen to grow on marginal land in …
Is Ethanol Really Outpacing Feed Use for Corn?
The latest USDA supply/demand forecast out this week says that corn use for ethanol will outpace livestock feed use for the first time, but some are questioning those figures and that interpretation. The July 12 World Agricultural Supply Demand report increased corn beginning stocks by 150 million bushels, while total U.S. corn use for 2010/11 was lowered by 145 million …
Report Finds “No Strict Food Versus Fuel Tradeoff”
A new report from Informa Economics released today concludes that ethanol production is not causing a “strict food-versus-fuel tradeoff” that automatically drives consumer food prices higher. The report, which was prepared for the Renewable Fuels Foundation, is an historical analysis of corn, commodity and consumer prices from 1985-2010. One of the key findings of the study was that no single …
Ethanol Report on Senate Compromise
An agreement was announced Thursday by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would end the existing 45 cent per gallon Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit and associated import tariff at the end of this month, reducing the nation’s deficit by $1.3 billion while still providing $668 million for renewable fuel incentives such …