Twenty-five drivers, including 16 new ones, have been chosen for the third season of Volkswagen’s 2010 Jetta TDI® Cup, an SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned event that features young drivers (16 to 26 years old) driving practically identical VWs running on a 5 percent biodiesel blend. This VW press release says the racing begins in April: “Our third year for the Jetta …
Renewable Petroleum Co. to Produce Biodiesel in Fla.
While most of the renewable energy news coming out of Florida this week is about ethanol with the National Ethanol Conference going on in Orlando, a California renewable petroleum company has announced it will be making biodiesel in the Sunshine State. Biomass Magazine reports that LS9 will retrofit an existing fermentation facility in Okeechobee to make its UltraClean Diesel and …
Kia’s Ray Plug-In Hybrid Debuts in Chicago
A pretty bold concept car from Kia Motors that should be as green as it is cool looking has made its debut at this year’s Chicago Auto Show. The Detroit News reports that the Kia Ray Plug-in Hybrid concept was rolled out during a press conference this week and is the latest offering from the company’s global alternative fuel and …
World’s First Hybrid Biomass-Solar Refinery Announced
A Colorado company has come up with a way to harness to power of the sun to unlock the energy in biomass. This post from the CalFinder blog says Sundrop Fuels has developed the world’s first hybrid solar-biomass refinery that uses concentrated solar power (CSP) to heat plant scraps and wood chips to create biofuel: The use of solar power …
Biodiesel Provisions Laid Off from Jobs Bill
So close … but yet so far. A provision in the U.S. Senate’s jobs bill that would have restored the $1-a-gallon biodiesel blending credit … and preserved about 23,000 jobs on its own … started the day in the employment measure. But it found itself in a position many looking for jobs are familiar with: last hired, first fired. The …
New Wisconsin Wind Turbine Plant to Employ 600+
A new wind turbine blade plant in Wisconsin is expected to put more than 600 new workers on the job. This post on the GreenRightNow.com Web site says the Energy Composites Corp. (ECC) facility in Wisconsin Rapids got some help in the form of $238 million in municipal tax-free bonds from a pool of money created with federal stimulus dollars: …
Propel Launches $20 Mil Biofuels Stations Expansion
Sacramento-based Propel Fuels has announced it is investing $20 million into an effort that will put its biofuels, as well as hydroge and electric vehicle charging areas, into stations in every major market in California. This company press release says the move supports California’s emissions reduction goals while stimulating jobs: “California has the largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in …
Tennessee Town to Put In Biodiesel Brewer
A town in Tennessee has bought a new biodiesel processing system that will also reduce the city’s waste. Biofuels International reports the city of Clarksville got some help from a federal grant that allows Clarksville Gas and Water to convert used cooking oil into the green fuel: The city hopes that the biodiesel produced will eventually power the city’s buses. …
Bright Lights of Vegas to be Powered by Wind
A Nevada utility will get some of its power from wind energy. This story from Las Vegas Review-Journal says NV Energy has signed a a deal to buy energy from a wind farm near Ely for the next 20 years: Pattern Energy Group of San Francisco will build the 150-megawatt Spring Valley Wind Project, which would be Nevada’s first major, …
Biodiesel, Ethanol Key in “Big Oil” vs. “Big Ag” Fight
It’s Big Oil versus Big Ag in the fight for the heart and soul … but mostly the pocketbooks … of transportation fuels users in this country, and biodiesel and ethanol are playing a key role in the battle. This interesting post on the Cleantech Blog says that Exxon, Chevron, and Shell … aka “Big Oil” … are having their …