Biodiesel producers won’t have to fly blind when trying to decide if an operation will be profitable or not. Biodiesel Magazine reports the Ag Marketing Resource Center, an online center hosted by Iowa State University Extension Service, is offering biodiesel profitability spreadsheets: “We put together what we think is a ballpark or typical biodiesel plant in Iowa to give an …
Pennsylvania Looks to Stimulus Money to Help Biofuels
Pennsylvania’s governor is looking to the federal government to help along his state’s biodiesel and alternative fuel vehicle industries. Governor Ed Rendell is asking the U.S. Department of Energy for $15 million in federal stimulus bucks for Alternative Fuel and Advanced Technology Vehicles Pilot Grants: “As part of Pennsylvania’s Energy Independence Strategy, the PennSecurity Fuels Initiative mandates the production and …
Boeing: Biofuels Just Fine For Aircraft
One of the world’s biggest makers of aircraft says that in initial tests, biofuels don’t affect performance and present no technical or safety problems, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent. This story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that word comes from the top people at Boeing: “It meets all jet fuel requirements and then some,” …
WI Businessman Plans to Open Biofuels Stations
A Milwaukee businessman has big plans to bring biofuels to southern Wisconsin. This story in the the Business Journal of Milwaukee says Peter Grimes is opening a biodiesel and ethanol station in the southeast Wisconsin town of Cudahy next month… and there’s plans to open up at least six more over the next two years: Grimes, a managing partner of …
Missouri Biodiesel Plant Holds Open House
About 300 investors, workers and local officials toured the new Producers’ Choice Soy Energy biodiesel plant near the north-central Missouri town of Moberly over the weekend. After a ceremonial ribbon cutting, officials said the 5-million-gallon-a-year refinery should be cranking out biodiesel sometime this summer: David Zielke, the CEO for Producers’ Choice said “This project has created jobs, stimulated the economy, …
Minnesota On Target to Meet Biodiesel Mandate Goals
Earlier this week, we told you how Washington state was going to fall short on its goal using 20 percent biofuels in all state vehicles. But there’s better news from the Midwest. According to the Redwood Falls (MN) Gazette, Minnesota is on target of meeting its own lofty goal of having all diesel sold in the state to be a …
Exxon CEO: Alt Fuels Help Satisfy Global Energy Need
While the chief of Exxon Mobil believes the U.S. demand for gasoline has peaked, he thinks the global demand for gasoline will continue to grow. And Rex Tillerson thinks that alternative fuels will help meet that growing demand. This story in the Dallas Morning News says Tillerson made the pitch for investing more in renewable energy during the company’s annual …
Interior Funds Efforts to Turn Fallen Trees into Biofuels
Burning deadfalls and brush in your stove or in your car might be a better option than having that same forest waste burn down your home. One of the issues that the national forests and park lands run into each year is what to do with the fallen trees and underbrush that contribute to forest fires that threaten surrounding communities …
Vegawatt Generator Turns Grease Directly Into Power
A six-foot tall box behind a restaurant in Massachusetts is a solution to two problems: what to do with leftover cooking oil and how to power the fryers that produce all that grease in the first place. This article from Popular Science says the Vegawatt Power System that turns used cooking oil into an energy source for Finz restaurant in …
School to Run Buses on Cooking Grease Biodiesel
Instead of bringing an apple for teacher, students in Montgomery, Alabama schools will be encouraged to bring in used cooking oil that the city’s public schools will turn into biodiesel to run their school buses. The Montgomery Advertiser reports it’s part of a new initiative where the school has partnered with Alabama State University and the Alabama Department of Agriculture …