An aerospace engineer and author thinks the country needs a new direction in energy policy to “break the economic stranglehold that the OPEC oil cartel has on our country.” Robert Zubrin is president of Pioneer Astronautics, a private company that does research and development on innovative aerospace technologies, and author of several books including his most recent, “Energy Victory,” in …
Senate Passes Energy Bill
After stripping the bill of a $21 billion tax package, he U.S. Senate has passed an amended energy bill that includes an expansion of the Renewable Fuels Standard to 36 billion gallons of annual renewable fuel use by 2022. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives for approval before it can be sent to the president for …
Senate to Change Energy Bill
The Senate fell one vote short in a procedural vote to move the Energy Bill passed by the House that includes tax increases for oil companies. The White House had threatened to veto the bill over that issue. Majority Leader Harry Reid now says they will eliminate the tax title to get a revised energy package approved later today. “We …
Podcast on Informa Report
The latest “Ethanol Report” podcast from the Renewable Fuels Association features comments from Informa Economics CEO Bruce Scherr and Renewable Fuels Foundation chairman Bill Lee on the report that “puts to bed” the food versus fuel debate. Here’s a link to the post on the RFA blog. The study was commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Foundation, the education and research …
EPIC Fun Pack
The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council unveiled a new Educational Fun Pack last week at the Green California Schools Conference. The pack is equipped with six different units for teachers. The materials focus on English, geography, science, math, vocabulary, and social studies. The fun pack also includes 30 wristbands, 30 environmental window clings, 30 children’s books, 2 girls and 2 …
AE Biofuels Now Publicly Traded
AE Biofuels, formerly known as American Ethanol, has completed its plans to become a publicly traded company by merging with a firm known as Marwich II Ltd. The California-based company is involved in both ethanol and biodiesel, with majority ownership of a plant in India that is designed to produce 50 million gallons of biodiesel per year and plans to …
VeraSun Recives Venture Award
VeraSun Energy, headquartered in South Dakota, was recently honored with one of ten Iowa Venture Awards by the Iowa Area Development Group (IADG). VeraSun is one of the nation’s largest ethanol producers and is nearing completion a 100 million gallon ethanol production plant in Hartley, Iowa to complement their other two Iowa facilities located in Fort Dodge and Charles City. …
Swedish Bio-Fuel Sports Car
“The Future of Things” has a feature on a future bio-fueled sports car called CCXR. The elite Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg has created a new bio-fuel powered sports car named CCXR. This Limited Edition CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1,000 Brake horsepower, and a top speed of over 400 km/h (250+ mph). …
New Report Puts Food vs Fuel “to Bed”
The price of corn has less to do with the price of food than many other factors, according to an extensive new study by Informa Economics based on 20 years of price data. The Informa report identifies the so-called “marketing bill”—the portion of final food costs that excludes grains or other raw materials—as a key driver of the consumer price …
Senate Stops Energy Bill Roll
The energy bill was on a roll after passing the House Thursday, but a failed vote on Friday to end debate in the Senate puts the bill back in limbo. In urging Senators to block a vote on the bill, Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, argued: “This is …