I’m not talking about those guys with the funny horns on the side of their football helmets. A group of Swedes have traveled to Minnesota to give residents there some ideas about how biomass can heat a home. This story from Biomass Magazine says a delegation from the city of Växjö, Sweden… dubbed the Greenest City in Europe… is visiting …
USDA, DOE Hand Out Biomass Grants
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy announced $10 million worth of grants for 10 places of higher education to help accelerate the use of biomass into cellulosic biofuels. This USDA release has details: “USDA is committed to fostering a sustainable domestic biofuels industry at home in rural America,” [Agriculture Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale Buchanan] said. …
All-in-One Algae Biodiesel Plant Coming to Missouri
West-Central Missouri is about to become home to an algae-biodeisel refinery… the first of its kind in this nation. This story from the Marshall (MO) Democrat-News says commissioners of Saline County, Missouri have signed a resolution and intend to issue $141 million in bonds to help Green Star Products Inc.’s EcoAlgae USA build a commercial algae production facility in conjunction …
Biodiesel, Wind Lose in Tiff over Energy Policy
The fight between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, DC has hurt the biodiesel and wind energy programs in this country. The Des Moines (IA) Register reports that Congress, deadlocked and heading for its August break, failed to renew tax credits for wind power and biodiesel that are due to expire at the end of the year: Republicans have successfully blocked …
CNN’s Biodiesel-Fueled Trip Hits Hoover Dam
CNN’s trip across the country (as we first reported this past Monday) in a 1978 International Scout running on biodiesel has made it to Hoover Dam, (with acknowledgments to Chevy Chase’s “Vegas Vacation”) where they shot some dam video, filed some dam reports, and did some dam blogging!!! (Where can I get some dam bait?). Seriously, though, CNN.com producer Cody …
New QC System for U.S.’s Largest Biodiesel Refinery
The nation’s biggest biodiesel refinery has installed a quality control system that promises to cut testing times from hours to minutes. This press release from Cognis Corporations’ QTA (Quality Trait Analysis) says GreenHunter BioFuels in Houston, Texas, which produces 105 million gallons of biodiesel a year, has put in QTA’s new biodiesel testing system: “Biodiesel quality testing traditionally requires gas …
Soybean Growers Help Dispel Ethanol, Biodiesel Myths
Battling the myths and misinformation that swirl around both ethanol and biodiesel seems to be a fulltime job these days. While some groups, such as the American Soybean Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, fight these battles daily, they could use a little help from the novices and those interested in the success of biofuels. That’s why the ASA is …
Mass. Gov Signs Ethanol, Biodiesel Measure
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has signed into law a measure that is hoped to make his state a leader in biofuels by exempting cellulosic biofuels (ethanol) from state taxes and creating a mandate for biodiesel in home heating oil. The Boston Globe was there when Patrick signed the bill: “It’s law,” he said, seated at a table at the Allston …
USDA: Food and Fuel Crops Not Hurting As Much As Feared
Last month’s floods in the Midwest might not have put the corn and soybean crops, which are vital to ethanol and biodiesel production, in as much peril as originally feared. In a news conference in Washington, DC today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief said that the Midwest corn and soybean crops have not been hurt as badly as first …
Poll: Public Not Buying Knock on Biodiesel
A nationwide survey from the United Soybean Board shows that a vast majority of the people in the United States believe American farmers and biodiesel are the solution… not the problem… in the issues of high fuel and food prices. This story from CattleNetwork.com says that the National Agriculture Image Survey says more than 80 percent of consumers see foreign …