Members of the band Guster joined officials from the City of East Lansing on the Michigan State University campus this week to announce the growing use of biodiesel in the town, according to the National Biodiesel Board. Guster was in East Lansing for a performance at MSU as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour, which raises awareness in college towns …
Plant Plans
Indiana – The Andersons Inc. is considering a third ethanol plant in Dunkirk, Ind. (Toldedo Blade) (see previous post) Florida – United States EviroFuels LLC received a state permit to construct an ethanol production plant at Port Sutton. (Tampa Bay Business Journal) (see previous post) Michigan – A company formed by former state Rep. Rick Johnson wants to build a …
First Fuel Cell Police Car
Wayne State University in Detroit is the proud owner of the world’s first fuel cell-powered police car introduced this week by DaimlerChrysler. According to their release, the Wayne State University Police Department will operate the Mercedes F-Cell as a supervisor’s vehicle on and in the immediate vicinity of the campus, located in Detroit’s Cultural Center. Outfitted with a third-generation police …
Energy Secretary Promotes Energy Initiative
U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman made lots of friends in the hydrogen fuel cell business yesterday when he announced plans to award $50 million over the next three years in research grants to advance the technology. AP reports that universities, national laboratories and private companies will compete for the grants starting later this month. They are part of the …
Bio Biking
Environmentally-conscious bikers may be interested in easy riding with Ecorider, “the only production diesel motorcycles offered for sale to the public in this country.” According to an email we got from Dusty Beckstrand, western US rep for Ecorider, they have been contacted lately by biodiesel companies interested in the bikes, “which use a German, Hatz diesel engine that gets 125 …
Small Company with Big Plans
A California company is planning to become a major ethanol producer with some new backing. A release this week from Altra, Inc. announced that it has attracted some heavy-hitter investors – private equity firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Omninet Private Equity, LLC and Sage Capital Partners, L.P. along with two leading private equity funds focused on high growth companies …
A-peeling Fuel Research
Now here’s an a-peeling idea for a cellulosic fuel source. Researchers at the Agricultural Research Service Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory in Winter Haven have been looking at the possibility of using citrus peels to make ethanol. According to this ARS story, citrus waste materials are rich in pectin, cellulose and hemicellusic polysaccharides, which can be hydrolyzed into sugars and …
Plug In to Hybrids
Found this good story on the Bioconversion Blog. Flex-fuel vehicles can run on gasoline or ethanol or any blend in between. But the liquid fuel MPG is not very good. Hybrid cars can extend the MPG of an automobile by substituting electricity generated within the car in place of liquid fuel – but you need to run the car on …
Ethanol Bill News
Ethanol bills were in the news in a couple of states today. In Arizona, the Senate passed a bill which classifies E85 as a motor fuel and permits it to be used in Maricopa County. Maricopa County’s poor air quality has led to restrictions on the motor fuels that can be sold. But the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality endorsed …
MO House Moves Ethanol Bill
After a few amendments passed and a few defeated, the Missouri House of Representatives came to a consensus on an ethanol mandate bill for the state. The measure would require most gasoline sold in Missouri after the end of next year to contain a 10 percent ethanol blend – and here is the fine print – as long as the …