Trusting Big Oil with its claims about the dangers of ethanol is like trusting certain soft drink makers about claims against drinks that might be good for you. “If Coke and Pepsi put out a study that said sugar-free Kool-Aid is bad for you, I’m sure people would question that,” says Senior Vice President of the American Coalition for Ethanol …
Austin Biodiesel Maker Offers Grease Pickup Service
Folks in the Lonestar State don’t have to feel so lonely and left out in the cold when it comes to wanting to do the right thing with used cooking grease. Austin-based grease-to-biodiesel maker DieselGreen Fuels has a new service to help residents, schools, churches and other small producers of oil avoid dumping their used grease in landfills or sewers. …
EcoEngineers Offers Help with RIN & RFS Compliance
Navigating the regulatory compliance path of the Renewable Fuels Standard and the associated Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) can be a daunting task for ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable fuel producers. During the recent Iowa Renewable Fuels Associaton’s conference, Joanna caught up with Jim Ramm (pictured in the middle of the group) with EcoEngineers, a Des Moines-based firm that offers technical …
DF Cast: Biodiesel Innovators Recognized in BioVegas
When you think of Las Vegas, you probably picture the bright lights, wild nightlife and gambling… probably not a home for environmentally friendly biodiesel innovation. But if you think about it, the gambling aspect really came out for a group that was an early adopter of the green fuel. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk to …
If You’re Not Extracting Corn Oil, Why Not?
Ethanol producers need to squeeze every penny out of their operations. But one expert in the field of corn oil wonders why some refiners aren’t trying to capture the corn oil produced when they make ethanol. “It seems to be a fundamental piece of ethanol plant profitability,” Joe Riley, General Manager with FEC Solutions told Joanna during the recent Iowa …
Urban Air Initiative Worried About Stocks, Not Ethanol
Ethanol is good for taking harmful particles out of automobile emissions, but a group committed to cleaner air is worried that gasoline makers might just end up putting more particulates in the blendstock. “The [ultra-fine particulates] profile of the ethanol is very, very consistent,” but Greg Krissek, Director of Government Affairs for ICM, part of the Urban Air Initiative, told …
Bioenergy Bytes
Green Fuels NZ Limited has purchased Biodiesel New Zealand’s Production Facilities. Officials say they will continue to produce Green Fuels’ popular Biogold™ branded biodiesel, made from 100 percent recycled vegetable oil and usable in most diesel fuel operations. SC Johnson has announced it will increase its use of wind power by 65 Percent at its Toluca, Mexico facility. The maker …
Taking Corn Cobs for Biofuels Won’t Hurt Soil Quality
Concerns over hurting the soil quality when harvesting some crop residues for cellulosic biofuels, instead of leaving the residues on the fields to help the soil quality, might be unfounded. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research says that soil quality would not decline if post-harvest corn cobs were removed from the field. “Crop residues have many useful functions when left …
DF Cast: Wind Energy Tax Credit Welcomed in Iowa
Probably no one in the country was more pleased to see the renewal of the wind energy production tax credit than the folks in Iowa, a place that has become a real leader nationwide in wind energy. During the recent Iowa Wind Energy Day, officials and advocates for wind energy expressed their appreciation for the extension… and the hope that …
Changing Tunes on Brazilian Ethanol vs. US Biodiesel
A pair of University of Illinois researchers say the reinstatement of the $1 a gallon biodiesel blenders credit has changed the equation back in favor of American biodiesel versus Brazilian ethanol. Back in December and even earlier this month, Darrel Good and Scott Irwin found that Brazilian sugarcane ethanol, which qualifies as an advanced biofuel under the Renewable Fuels Standard, …