St. Louis-based AmerenUE, which serves 2.4 million electric customers and nearly one million natural gas customers in a 64,000 square mile area of Missouri and Illinois, has announced its first venture into wind energy. This Ameren press release says the Midwest power giant will buy 100 megawatts (MW) of wind power from Horizon Wind Energy’s Rail Splitter Wind Farm located …
Biodiesel is Topic of Scholarship Contest
The American Lung Association of Minnesota has teamed up with the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association to offer a scholarship to a senior who writes the best essay on biodiesel. This press release from the ALA of Minnesota says high school seniors are welcometo participate: Current Minnesota high school seniors with plans to attend postsecondary education are eligible and encouraged to …
Chicken Fat Biodiesel Research
Arkansas, home to the Tyson chicken empire, could be the home to a new feedstock for biodiesel… chicken fat. This story from UPI says researchers in that state are looking at ways to perfect the chicken fat-to-biodiesel process: Chemical engineers at the University of Arkansas were successful in using so-called supercritical methanol to transform chicken fat and tall oil fatty …
Biodiesel Boat Using Captain’s Fat
The Earthrace, a biodiesel-powered boat out of New Zealand, will be making another attempt to set the world record for circumnavigation of the globe. Earlier this year, the Earthrace had to abandon a record-setting try (see my May 31st post). But according to this story on FoxNews.com, the captain believes he’s got the bugs worked out since then, and he’s …
Wind, Solar Left Behind in Energy Bill
While the ethanol and biodiesel industries will benefit from President Bush’s signature on the new energy bill, wind and solar could be left out in the cold a bit. Tax credits for the solar and wind energy industries are going to expire at the end of 2008. Renewal of the $21.5 billion of those credits prompted a veto threat from …
NBB Praises Leaders for Signing of Energy Bill
President Bush’s signing of H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, has gained the praise of the National Biodiesel Board. Joe Jobe, President of the NBB issued this statement: “The U.S. biodiesel industry praises President Bush, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and the bipartisan supporters of biofuels in Congress who worked tirelessly to enact an expanded Renewable …
Study: Biodiesel Performs Similarly to Diesel
A two-year-long study is showing that biodiesel is as good as regular diesel for over-the-road trucks. The “2 Million Mile Haul”… halfway through the study at this point… is looking at the benefits of using 20 percent biodiesel blend (B20) and is being conducted by the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) in partnership with Iowa Central Community College, Decker Truck Line …
Biodiesel Producer Hit with Another Lawsuit
The developer of what will be the world’s biggest biodiesel plant… if it gets built… has been hit with another lawsuit, the second one this year. Smiling Earth Energy has plans to build a 320-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. But the company has had its troubles recently, including a lawsuit by an Oregon biodiesel company for …
NBB Applauds Passage of Energy Bill
The National Biodiesel Board is applauding the U.S. House’s passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 by a 314-100. The U.S. Senate passed identical legislation last week, and President Bush has indicated he will sign it. The biggest selling point of the bill is the significant expansion of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that will increase the …
Western Wind Brings Solar Power to Cali and Canada
Western Wind Energy has partnered with Solon America Corporation to develop solar power for California and Ontario, Canada. Western Wind’s subsidiary Solargenics Inc. will work with Solon American Corporation, a subsidiary of Solon A.G. in Germany. Western and Solon will cooperate and combine their respective capabilities to enable the development of 5 to 40 megawatts of photovoltaic – solar energy …