Officials in St. Paul, Minnesota believe a pilot project to grow algae at the city’s wastewater plant will clean the water before it’s pumped back into the Mississippi River and provide biomass for biofuels. Biomass Magazine reports the process will also take nitrogen and phosphorus out of the water that can be used to make fertilizer: A team of researchers …
Bill Could Renew Biodiesel Credit
The $1-a-gallon tax credit that biodiesel now enjoys… but is set to expire at the end of this year… could have new life if a new piece of legislation makes it through Congress this year. According to the Northwest Arkansas News, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has introduced legislation that will promote several renewable energy options, including the biodiesel credit: Lincoln …
BrightSource, Cal PG&E Ink World’s Biggest Solar Deal
California utility PG&E and BrightSource Energy have signed a deal that will expand the two companies’ solar power agreement. This story from Fortune Magazine says the utility will buy 1,310 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to be generated by seven giant solar power plant projects – the world’s biggest solar deal to date. This latest deal comes after BrightSource made an …
Biodiesel Starts Shipping Out of Port of Milwaukee
Back in January, I told you about how a New York-based renewable energy company had announced plans to move biodiesel and ethanol out of the Port of Milwaukee. Now, this story from Milwaukee’s BizTimes.com says Innovation Fuels has started selling biodiesel to folks from around the world out of the port on Lake Michigan: The company’s 312,000-barrel (45,000 metric tons) …
Tax Credit Loss Idles Conoco/Tyson Biodiesel Plant
A joint venture by ConocoPhillips and Tyson that would have the fuel giant turning the meat giant’s animal fat waste into biodiesel has folded because of the halving of a key federal tax credit. This story from CNNMoney.com says the Borger, Texas refinery was idled last fall during changing economic conditions and government policies: A spokesman for Tyson Foods Inc. …
Wind Turbine Blade Test Center Gets $25 Mil Grant
Progress on what could become the country’s first commercial facility in the United States able to test wind turbine blades longer than 50 meters should take a big step forward with some help from a $25 million federal grant. This story in the International Business Times says the U.S. Department of Energy is giving the state of Massachusetts the money …
REG Consolidates Midwest Biodiesel Plants
Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group Inc. has signed a deal with three Midwest biodiesel plants to consolidate under the REG name. Biodiesel Magazine reports that Western Iowa Energy with a 30 MGY refinery in Wall Lake, Iowa; Central Iowa Energy’s 30 MGY Newton, Iowa facility; and the Danville, Illinois Blackhawk Biofuels, LLC, a 45 MGY facility in Danville, Ill., are part …
Alternative Fuel Projects Win EPA Awards
A big rig running on natural gas… a propane-fueled trimmer… gas from a wastewater treatment plant burned to make electricity… these are just some of the projects the Environmental Protection Agency has recognized in its annual Clean Air Excellence Awards Program. For the ninth year, EPA is honoring 15 recipients from across the United States for their environmental achievements in …
Encore Energy Buying Up More Biofuels Plants
Earlier this year, I told you how Encore Energy was targeting troubled biodiesel plants… ones producing below their capacity… for acquisition (see my post from March 16, 2009). This company press release says that Encore is now making that happen in five biofuels facilities with its new business development partner, Hardin Fuels: Four production facilities are located in Mississippi with …
Bacon Fat Biodiesel Station Opens in WI
A green fuel that also gives you the intoxicating aroma of bacon as you drive? It’s as if half of Homer Simpson’s brain had been implanted into Al Gore! A small, startup company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin has opened its first biodiesel station with the feedstock being the pork fat left over from making pre-cooked bacon. This story from the Manitowoc …