Getting inspiration from a fish, researchers are looking at making wind turbine blades out of advanced materials that will change shape to make the systems more efficient and longer lasting. This article from U.S. News & World Report says the blades with changing aerodynamic profiles will best suit whatever the prevailing wind conditions bring: “The idea was born from a …
Texas to Run More Vehicles on Alternatives
More state vehicles in Texas will be running on something other than the non-renewable petroleum the state is known for. This post on Examiner.com says the new law, effective September 1st, will require at least half of the 27,000-vehicle state fleet will run on alternative fuels 80 percent of the time: “House Bill 432 addresses the fact that our state …
Mississippi Firm Opens First of Three Biodiesel Plants
Officials at a biodiesel plant in Mississippi have finished the commissioning process for the 8-million-gallon-a-year facility. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says Mississippi Investment Petroleum Co. LLC (MIPCO) bought the plant from Tri-State Petroleum Products in Houston, Mississippi and retrofitted it to produce the green fuel from poultry fat and waste vegetable oil: The Houston, Miss. [facility], is actually the …
NREL Installs Two Giant Wind Turbines for Testing
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado has installed two of the biggest wind turbines ever tested at the facility. The video above shows workers putting up the 220 tons of wind turbine parts for the 253-foot diameter blades. This story in EnergyCurrent.com says they’ll be able to generate 1.5 megawatts of power: “This turbine is a modern, utility-scale machine …
Rising Diesel Prices Good for Biodiesel Biz
Prices for diesel continue to climb in the U.S., hitting their highest point of the year… and that’s good news for producers of green, renewable biodiesel. Biodiesel Magazine reports that according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average price of diesel fuel went up 1.6 cents per gallon from $2.652 per gallon Aug. 17 to $2.668 per gallon …
Algae Biodiesel Plant to be Built in Massachusetts
A one-million-gallon-a-year algae-biodiesel plant could soon become a reality for Massachusetts with some help from the state and federal governments. Biomass Magazine reports that Plankton Power, the maker of algae-based biodiesel, and the Regional Technology Development Corp. of Cape Cod, Mass. are working together to build a pilot-scale algae-based biodiesel production facility in Bourne, Mass. Together with the Massachusetts National …
Good News, Bad News: Brazil to Send US, EU Biodiesel
This is one of the good news, bad news stories. The bad news is: According to this story in World Energy Alternatives, Brazil wants to start sending soy-based biodiesel to the U.S. and the European Union. That word comes the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry: Sustainability studies have been performed to prove the biodiesel was produced sustainably to meet EU norms, but …
Danforth Center Gets Grants to Help Biofuels Research
A pair of three-year National Science Foundation grants will help the St. Louis-based Donald Danforth Plant Science Center continue its biofuel research. This press release says one of the awards is a $550,000 grant awarded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act that will support research that explores regulation of plant metabolism, an important part of biofuel research: Dr. Oliver …
Canadian Government Invests in Biodiesel Plant
The Canadian government is putting more than $72 million into a biodiesel plant in Ontario. This government press release says the money for the BIOX Corporation facility in Hamilton comes from the ecoENERGY for Biofuels program, which works to help stabilize the Canadian renewable fuel industry: “The Government of Canada is delivering results for families and workers in Hamilton,” said …
DF Cast: ACE Explores Indirect Land Use Issue
The recent American Coalition for Ethanol’s 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show in Milwaukee saw an exploration of an issue that remains a hot issue in the biofuels biz: Indirect Land Use. The concept that the growth of some biofuels feedstocks in the United States, especially corn and soybeans, could cause the cutting down of the rain forests in other …