As if you didn’t have enough reason to go to the 2009 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Feb. 1-4 in San Francisco, CA, there’s something for music AND biodiesel lovers. This NBB release says Grammy- and Oscar-winning rock icon Melissa Etheridge will offer her sweet, strong voice to help raise awareness about biodiesel… a green fuel that has been inspiring …
Downstream of Mighty Mo Could Become Power Generator
A downstream portion of the Missouri River could join the upper part of the river in becoming a major power generator in this country. This story from the Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune says a Massachusetts-based company is hoping to harness the hydrokinetic energy the river produces… without the massive dams seen in the Dakotas and Montana: Free Flow Power Corp. …
Biomass to Fuel CT Power Plant
Biomass will be the fuel of choice for nearly half of the energy produced by a Connecticut power plant. This story from Biofuel Review says NRG Energy’s Montville Generating Station in Connecticut is developing a a new biomass project that will produce 30 MW of the unit’s 82 MW generating capacity: According to John Ragan, President of NRG’s Northeast Region; …
NJ Gets First Commercial Biodiesel Pump
New Jersey has its first retail biodiesel pump. Located in Maplewood, NJ, it’s operated by Woolley Fuel Company, and Sprague Energy Corp. is providing the biodiesel. The move gained the praise of the National Biodiesel Board: “While a number of fleets in New Jersey, including the Department of Transportation, have used biodiesel blends for many years, this pump opening marks …
Crumbling Infrastructure Hurting Rural Ethanol & Biodiesel Industries
Rural America’s infrastructure challenges cut to the heart of the six challenges outlined during this morning’s session of the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Summit being held in Washington, D.C. As you might have read on my earlier post over on AgWired.com, this morning, Farm Foundation Pres. Neil Conklin outlined the six major areas of challenges facing agriculture over …
ADM: We Can Have it All… Food & Fuel
The world’s population will grow by 33 percent by the year 2040, but the amount of farmland to feed and fuel that growing demand won’t have to grow by that same one-third… that’s what attendees at the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. heard this morning. Greg Webb from Archer Daniels Midland gave that optimistic assessment …
Biodiesel Board Blasts Biofuel Plantations Report
The National Biodiesel Board is taking exception with a report that seems to equate unsustainable practices to produce biodiesel in some parts of the world with what American biodiesel producers are doing In a statement from Manning Feraci, Vice President of Federal Affairs at the NBB, the group takes aim at the report titled, “Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double …
Biofuels Key Part of Conversation at Farm Foundation Meeting
It was a pretty amazing event today at the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. today. Seven former Secretaries of Agriculture (six in-person and one by videotape) debated the future of agriculture in America, especially what the immediate future would hold for the next person to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A big part of …
MN Extends Biodiesel Grants Deadline
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has extended its deadline to apply for grants to help the state’s biodiesel industry. This press release from the department says the new deadline is Friday, December 12, 2008: A total of $300,000 in funds is available to the owners of facilities that supply petroleum products to customers who sell, use, or transport fuel in …
State & Federal Money Help MO Biodiesel Startups
The construction industry might be struggling a bit these days, but biodiesel plants are still being built… with some help from federal and state programs that are backing the capital to get these startups going. As an example, a Missouri-based biodiesel maker has received some help to get their proposed biodiesel plant and soybean crushing facility off the ground. This …