A new report indicates there will be enough corn and soybeans for ethanol and biodiesel production, as well as the feed, food and export uses those crops are tasked with. But the evaluation from the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center‘s Robert Wisner, Professor of Economics and Energy Economist, says things could get tight if next year’s crop is hit with bad …
Auto Execs Rate Hybrids First, Biodiesel Last in Alt Fuels
Car makers put more stock in hybrid systems than biodiesel. This post from CNET News says a survey conducted by KPMG asked 200 senior auto executives to rate the most important alternative fuel technologies to their industry over the next five years: When asked to rate which were the most important alternative fuel technologies to the auto industry over the …
Japanese Whalers Sink Biodiesel Boat
A biodiesel-fueled boat that set the world record for circumnavigating the globe (see my post from June 27, 2008) has been sunk by a vessel accompanying Japanese whaling ships. According to WCJB World News, the Earthrace (now owned by the environmental organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and renamed the Ady Gil), a 79-foot “batmobile-looking” trimaran, was sunk by Japanese sailors …
Biodiesel Board Disputes Media’s Production Estimate
Ben Franklin said, “Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.” That saying could apply to the latest dispute between some of the media and the National Biodiesel Board and biodiesel production levels for 2009. While some major news outlets ran a story that put the number at 350 million gallons for the past year (a …
IRFA Launches Media Campaign Touting Biodiesel
Biodiesel has a rough go of it lately, with tough economic conditions and then the inaction by Congress to renew the $1 per gallon biodiesel blenders tax credit taking its toll on the green fuel. It might be down, but it’s certainly not out, and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has launched a media campaign within its home state …
Nevada Water Company Proposes 100-mw Solar Farm
A water company in Nevada is proposing to build a solar farm that could be one of the biggest in the country. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that Vidler Water Co. wants to to build a 100-megawatt solar farm at its Fish Springs Ranch about 40 miles from Reno. Construction could start next year: In Europe, a 1.8 million-megawatt farm is …
Group Calls Wind “Easiest Crop to Harvest”
A leader in large-scale community wind project development is making the case that wind turbines on farmland would only take up 1 percent of the land but could double a farmer’s profitability. In a piece e-mailed to Domestic Fuel, National Wind’s co-founder and co-chair Patrick Pelstring says wind energy doesn’t take up as much room as some people might think …
REG to Supply Biodiesel for Hawaiian Utility
Not since the guy from Keokuk said “Hey, I’ll bring the pig to the luau,” has there been such a perfect partnership between the Hawkeye and Aloha States. Pacific Business News says Hawaiian Electric Co. (HECO) will buy 3 million to 7 million gallons of biodiesel annually for two years from Ames, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group for the utility’s new …
Power Line to Convert to Wind Energy Carrier
A high voltage power line that runs from near Duluth, Minnesota to just outside of Bismarck, North Dakota will soon convert to carrying clean wind energy power. This story from Minnesota Public Radio says Duluth-based Minnesota Power bought the 250-kilovolt power line from the Square Butte Electric Cooperative: “We’ll be phasing out coal-based electricity that is currently carried via the …
New Year Brings Idling of Biodiesel Plants
The new year has brought some bad news for the biodiesel industry. As expected, the $1-per-gallon federal tax incentive expired at the end of December 2009. And, as expected, some biodiesel makers have had to idle their plants after losing the tax credit. One of the biggest to “idle in the new year” is the 180-million gallon Renewable Biofuels plant …