Well, it looks like Iowans have chosen Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as the top vote-getters in the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the Hawkeye State. While there’s still a lot of election left to go with all of the rest of the country’s primaries and caucuses still up for grabs, Iowa is many times …
Imperium Cancels IPO Plans
The biggest biodiesel producer on the U.S. West Coast has withdrawn a plan to have an initial public offering (IPO) that could have raised more than $345 million for several biodiesel plants across the country. This story from Reuters says officials with biodiesel giant, Imperium Renewables out of Seattle, Washington, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw …
As Ethanol Mandate Starts in MO, Biodiesel Requirement Proposed
Missouri’s requirement to have all gasoline contain at least 10 percent biodiesel started on January 1st. And now, there’s a proposal in the legislature to make a similar mandate for biodiesel. State Sen. Bill Stouffer’s (R-Napton) SB 759 would require all diesel fuel sold in the state would contain a biodiesel blend by April 1, 2010: fuel terminals in Missouri …
Cary, NC Going to Biodiesel
The city of Cary, North Carolina has changed its fleet of diesel vehicles to biodiesel. The city runs about 3.5 million miles a year, and now those miles will be greener. This story in the Cary (NC) News says 169 diesel vehicles are now running on B20 biodiesel: “It’s purely trying to reduce our dependency on oil,” (Mike Bajorek, the …
KCC Decision Slows Kansas Wind Development
A decision by the Kansas Corporation Commission could stymie some wind energy development plans in that state. Westar Energy Inc., Kansas’ largest electric company, had asked commissioners to allow the company to earn higher profits because Westar had invested in 295 megawatts of generating capacity from wind farms in three counties, enough to light up more than 80,000 homes. This …
Farm Bureau: Renewable Energy Big in ’07
Among the stories seen as significant to the American Farm Bureau in 2007, renewable energy ranked right up there with the new Farm Bill and issues with migrant workers in the fruit and vegetable crop fields. And this column from Farm Bureau says ethanol and biodiesel will be in the headlines for years to come: Energy products including ethanol-blended fuels …
Nova Opens Up IL Plant for Forum, Tour
Houston-based Nova Biosource is opening up its biodiesel plant at Seneca, Illinois for a financial analyst and institutional investor forum as well as a tour of the new facility on Friday, January 25th, 2008. The new facility will be mechanically complete right after the start of the new year and substantially completed this summer. Check out this drawing of the …
Brazil Putting in Biodiesel Mandate
The new year will mark a new requirement for all diesel fuel sold in Brazil: it must contain at least two percent biodiesel. Brazil is already a world leader in ethanol production, and this article from The Canadian Press says the new requirement will help grow the biodiesel industry in the country as well: “The great advantage is for the …
NBB: Biodiesel at Less than 25% Production Capacity
The National Biodiesel Board says the U.S. is not making near what it could be when it comes to biodiesel. This story on Wisconsin Ag Connection says high soybean oil prices are keeping America from producing an NBB-projected amount of 1.85 billion gallons a year… but that could soon change: Soybean oil prices in the mid- to high 40-cent range …
U.S. Wind Energy to Grow by 15% per Year
International Financier Deutsche Bank (based in Germany, of course) says U.S. wind energy production will grow by 15 percent a year until 2015. This story in the Wyoming Business Report (Wyoming is one of those places where wind and wind turbines are in great supply) says the American, Indian, and Chinese wind power generation markets have become the three biggest …