For those of you who watched the second debate between Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, you’ll have heard something that hasn’t come out of the mouth of a presidential candidate in quite some time: ethanol. During discussion on energy policy, candidates typically use the term biofuels – a seemingly less taboo word as criticism surrounds “ethanol”. How much …
Biodiesel – The Fuel That Pays for School
For one lucky Minnesota high school senior, biodiesel is going to be the fuel that pays for school. The $1,000 Clean Air Choice Biodiesel Scholarship will be awarded to the student who writes the best 1,000 word essay about the benefits of biodiesel to Minnesota. The second place winner will be given a $500 scholarship. The scholarship that was announced …
Five Things You Should Know About Solar
Inovateus Solar, based in South Bend Indiana, has proposed five things you should know about solar. The free white paper, “The Good News About Solar: Five Facts You Should Know,” delves in to five areas about solar energy that demonstrates why solar energy should be a part of the energy mix. The five reasons: 1. The U.S. Solar Industry Continues …
Upward Biodiesel Trend Continues
The biodiesel industry has another solid month in September producing 86 million gallons of biodiesel. Year-to-date, production is around 843 million gallons and if strong production numbers continue will set a new total biodiesel production record in 2012. The industry set a record in 2011 producing 1.1 billion gallons. Biodiesel production is reported under the EPA’s Biomass-based Diesel category in the …
Habitat for Humanity Homes Go Solar
Habitat for Humanity has constructed 12-home new affordable housing development in Oakland, California with the aid of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Solar Habitat program. In its sixth year, the Solar Habitat program provides solar power to Habitat homes built in Central and Northern California, and to date 416 solar-powered Habitat homes have been completed. “Today, the City of Oakland celebrates …
Using Compost to Fuel Compost Cars
For those of you who are slacking off this afternoon and surfing the web looking for cool stories about renewable energy, well look no further. I have found the current greatest idea of the month: converting compost into fuel and then fueling cars made out of compost. Are you hooked? Okay, so this is really not a real technology. The …
Genuine Bio-Fuel Produces Biodiesel in Seconds
Florida-based Genuine Bio-Fuel says it has developed a new production process that refines biodiesel fuel in seconds using ultrasonic shearing technologies. Traditionally, it takes several hours to produce biodiesel using batch reactors and the result, says the company, is varying qualities of biodiesel, by-products, water consumption and contaminated water discharge. Genuine Bio-Fuel says using this technology limits future technological advancement. …
Green Metrics Missing in Biofuel Debate
According to Jody Endres, College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, and The Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of Illinois, and Daniel Szewczyk, academia has failed to create green metrics in measuring the pros and cons of biofuels. A framework to evaluate what constitutes a “green” economy is needed along with measurement metrics. Endres and Szewczyk note that energy …
U of A Wins ‘Underground’ Biodiesel Grant
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health awarded a $1.4 million grant to the University of Arizona‘s Mel and Enid Zumerman College of Public Health along with the department of mining and geological engineering. The three-year project will compare exposure and health effects of miners using diesel versus biodiesel fueled underground mining equipment. During the past few years, miners …
Will Global Biofuel Investments Continue?
Historically, 2009 was a hard year for biofuels. Biofuel spending was down to $5.6 billion from $15.4 billion in 2008. Investments in the industry focused on cellulosic technologies and sugarcane. This according to NRG Expert’s World Biofuels Report. The report cites sugarcane-based biofuels as being the most competitive with oil and also have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. The worst …