Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen held a conference call with reporters this morning to discuss what yesterday’s historic election results may mean for ethanol policy, both for the rest of this year and in the next Congress. “Washington will be a more Republican town in January,” Dinneen said. “Will that have a meaningful impact on the U.S. …
Growth Energy Names New President
Growth Energy has announced former congressman Jim Nussle as new president and chief operating officer of the ethanol organization, starting today. Jim Nussle (pictured left) is a former eight-term Congressman from Iowa and served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He has served on the Board of Directors of Growth Energy since …
DF Cast: EPA Seeks Input on E15 Ethanol Pump Labels
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has given the green light to E15 ethanol … or maybe a “pale” green light, in the case where it is a partial waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline for 2007 model year vehicles or newer. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we hear from EPA Assistant Administrator for …
Magnifying Power of the Sun, Lowering Solar Cell Costs
A California company has found a way to magnify the power of the sun and could end up cutting the cost of solar panels in half. HyperSolar, Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology that actually magnifies the power of the sun, getting more energy into a solar cell and getting more energy out. “The way we’re doing that is by …
Sapphire Energy’s 4 Pillars to Success
Sapphire Energy has four pillars that define the company; yet the over arching pillar that truly drives them is the concept of scale. But before they could begin overcoming that challenge, they first had to decide what kind of company they wanted to be. The answer – an energy company. Sapphire is an energy company that just happened to land …
Swine and Poultry Experts Discuss DDGS Use
Swine and poultry producers are using the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as feed for good reasons. Dr. Phillip Smith, a nutritionist with Tyson Foods, spoke at the recent Export Exchange event sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the U.S. Grains Council about the value of DDGS in the poultry sector. “It’s a very good …
Community Fuels On The Biodiesel Tax Credit
I’ll never get tired of talking about the biodiesel tax credit – or should I say lack thereof. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Lisa Mortenson, the Co-Founder & CEO of Encinitas, California-based Community Fuels during my San Diego Algae Tour and I took the opportunity to ask her her thoughts about the biodiesel tax credit. “The …
CleanTech San Diego Ranked in Global Top 10
CleanTech San Diego has been ranked in the top 10 of global clean tech clusters. Pretty amazing considering that the organization was only founded in 2007 through an initiative of the mayor’s office and several local businesses. The organization that created the ranking, Sustainable World Capital, has created a global clean tech organization of which CleanTech San Diego is a …
Lame Ducks Could Renew Biodiesel, Ethanol Tax Breaks
Groups that represent the biodiesel and ethanol industries in this country believe when Congress comes back to Washington after the election … for what is known as the lame duck session … members could renew the pending federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit and the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC). Michael Frohlich, Director of Federal Communications for the National Biodiesel …
Ugly Biodiesel Brewer Beauty to Farmers, Businesses
It’s not very pretty … but it’s a thing of beauty to farmers, school administrators and even some businesses that want to brew their own biodiesel. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a story from the Flint (MI) Journal about Onsite Energy LLC‘s new Genesee Biodiesel Processor, a first-of-its-kind, automatic machine that can make cooking oil into biodiesel with …