A North Dakota ethanol plant is truly exploring the concept of value-added products. The Blue Flint Ethanol refinery in Underwood, ND, will extract oil from the corn it turns into ethanol to turn that oil into biodiesel. KXMB-TV is Bismarck reports the oil extracting equipment will be right there at the refinery and is the first of its kind in …
Iowa Biodiesel Plant Gets $3.9 Mil State Grant
An Iowa biodiesel plant that picked up a $2.5 million federal grant earlier this month (see my post from Dec. 7) has picked up another $3.9 million from the state. Wallaces Farmer reports that Elevance Renewable Sciences of Bollingbrook, Illinois and the Renewable Energy Group biodiesel plant in Newton received the Iowa Power Fund money to develop a Nobel Prize-winning …
Chevron to Install Rhode Island Wind Turbines
Rhode Island’s governor has selected Chevron Energy Solutions to install and operate six wind turbines on public land in the state. The Providence (RI) Journal reports that Governor Donald Carcieri made the announcement about the San Francisco-based clean energy company getting the contract at a Narragansett Town Council meeting: “Chevron is a proven leader in renewable energy and a proven …
Soybean Checkoff, Clean Cities Promote Biodiesel
A group that promotes the use of soybeans and a program that works to reduce local petroleum consumption are partnering again to promote the use of soy biodiesel next year. This article from radio station KFGO in Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN says the United Soybean Board’s soybean checkoff and the U.S. Department of Energy-affiliated (USDOE) Clean Cities’ chapters will develop programs …
Baucus, Grassley Vow to Extend Biodiesel Tax Incentive
Biodiesel producers have seen the last chance at renewing the federal biodiesel tax incentives before they expire at the end of the year slip away. But two key lawmakers have vowed the $1-a-gallon tax credit will be renewed, retroactively. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the same committee, …
South Texas Getting First Biodiesel Terminal
A company that says it is “introducing biodiesel to the petroeum industry” has announced the first biodiesel terminal in South Texas. This press release posted on EarthTimes.org says Gulf Hydrocarbon will offer biodiesel at the RTW Terminal in Brownsville: Gulf Hydrocarbon’s new terminal will offer convenient access to biodiesel truck loading rack. This new gateway for US-made biodiesel will offer …
Canada to Test Year-Round Biodiesel
The cold conditions of Canada will put biodiesel to the test as our friends north of the border take part in a year-long test of the green fuel. This story on the Canada Views Web site says the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is getting more than $750,000 to see how well biodiesel will work in agricultural equipment, including the coldest …
Making Biodiesel and “Things”
I found an interesting piece by Lyle Estill, a founder of Piedmont Biofuels … a Pittsboro, North Carolina-based maker of biodiesel and other “things.” Estill’s column in the Chapel Hill (NC) News is really good piece that not only talks about his little biodiesel company’s resilience in the face of a tough market, but also of the principles his blue-collar …
USDA & EPA Called to Update Climate Change Analysis
Questions by the Secretary of Agriculture himself about the USDA’s and EPA’s climate change analysis has prompted the two ranking members of the U.S. Senate and House Ag Committees to ask questions as well. U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and U.S. Representative Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) have sent a letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack, asking him about his apparent lack of …
Grassley Blasts Dems for Biodiesel Incentive Lapse
Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa says Democrats seem to just paying lip service to the concept of green energy and green jobs. He took to the floor of the Senate this week to blast the Democratic leadership for what appears to be allowing the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive to expire at the end of this month. Here are some …