Massachusetts’ governor wants his state to significantly step up its wind energy efforts over the next decade. This story from RenewableEnergyWorld.com says Gov. Deval Patrick wants the state to produce 2,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2020, representing 10 percent of today’s electric load and a 300-fold increase from the current 6.6 megawatts currently produced in Massachusetts: “With the growing …
NY Looks to Eliminate Alt Fuels Tax Credit, Reward Polluting Petroleum
New York’s governor wants to get rid of a tax credit for alternative fuels and fuel cells, while keeping a much more expensive credit for a very dirty form of diesel. Environmentalists are up in arms over Gov. David Paterson’s plan to cut the $5 million in credits, which he says are underutilized, at a time when companies are poised …
Confirmation: Biodiesel Not to Blame in Minnesota
A new report confirms that biodiesel was not to blame for stalling school buses in Minnesota last week. When the temperatures in the Minneapolis area dropped to -20 to -30 degrees F, some students got an extra day off from school when a handful of buses wouldn’t run. Naysayers immediately blamed biodiesel, but state officials suspected the green fuel was …
Biodiesel Board Congratulates Vilsack & Chu
The nation’s primary group representing the biodiesel industry is welcoming two of the newest members of President Obama Cabinet. The National Biodiesel Board has congratulated new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and new Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu, who both received unanimous confirmation from the U.S. Senate today: “Secretary Vilsack has been a consistent proponent of biofuels, and …
Airline Industry Strives Toward Biodiesel, Alternatives
The U.S. airline industry continues to make efforts to develop alternatives to petroleum-based jet fuels. We’ve been telling you about the various efforts made to run biodiesel in several airliners (see my stories from January 8, 2009 and October 15, 2008 for a couple of examples). Recently, Nancy Young, Vice President of Environmental Affairs for the Air Transport Association of …
Wal-Mart Puts Plentiful Sunshine to Work
Something we could learn from our neighbors to the south. Wal-Mart Mexico is making good use of that country’s plentiful supply of sunshine as the company has put in a large solar panel array on a roof that will provide a large amount of energy for that store. A company press release says the photovoltaic complex of more than 1,056 …
Show Features California’s Alt Energy Efforts
There was a fascinating show on PBS tonight that featured the various efforts in California to change how the state will meet some substantial challenges in its growing energy consumption, while reducing the amount of greenhouse gases pumped into the environment. The episode of Nova, entitled “The Big Energy Gamble” talked about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s aggressive plan to have one-third …
Biodiesel Brings New Museum to DC
In addition to President Barack Obama making the 800-mile journey from Illinois to Washington, DC… ala Abraham Lincoln… a mobile museum powered by biodiesel also made that historic trip. The United Soybean Board says the soybean checkoff-funded biodiesel has been moving the “Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America Tour” mobile museum across the U.S. since last spring to commemorate the 200th …
More Biodiesel Producers Meet Quality Standard
Two more biodiesel producers have been added to the roster of those companies meeting an important quality assurance standard. This press release from the National Biodiesel Board congratulates Nova Biofuels’ 60-million-gallon capacity operation in Seneca, Illinois and the 30-million-gallon Prairie Pride, Inc. soybean-crushing and biodiesel refinery in Nevada, Missouri for meeting the NBB’s quality assurance program, BQ-9000: “BQ-9000 certification confirms …
Feds Give Cape Cod Wind Project Thumbs Up
A 130 giant wind turbine project planned for off the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts has received the green light from a key federal agency, but it still faces some opposition from one of its powerful neighbors. This story from the Boston Herald says the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service has given a preliminary approval to the …