Leaders from several biofuel trade organizations are calling for the extension of some federal advanced biofuel tax credits. The Advanced Ethanol Council, Advanced Biofuels Association, Algae Biomass Organization, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, National Biodiesel Board, and Renewable Fuels Association have sent a letter to the Senate calling for the restoration of the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, the …
Biodiesel By-Product Could Produce More Feedstock
A by-product of biodiesel production could help grow more feedstock for the green fuel’s production. This article from Biofuels Digest says Purthanol Resources Ltd has produced lipids with yeast or fungi cultivated in fermentors and fed using glycerin, and those lipids could end up being another feedstock for biodiesel production. Oleaginous yeast and fungi were isolated and tested to produce …
Surplus Biodiesel Equipment to be Auctioned Online
Surplus biodiesel equipment used to produce ASTM-6751-10 quality product from soybean oil and animal fats will be auctioned online. Maas Companies says the equipment comes from a cooperative in Minnesota and used a water wash system and meets Environmental Protection Agency requirements for the Renewable Fuels Standard. The 3.2 million gallon per year biodiesel equipment package is surplus to the …
Iowa RFA’s Shaw Has Ag Support for Congress
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw is one of several Republican candidates vying to replace the retiring Tom Latham as Iowa’s representative in the Third Congressional District, but he may have more grassroots agricultural support than most of them. Shaw has just announced the formation of his Iowa Agriculture Team, which includes key ag leaders from across the …
Virginia Biodiesel Plant Gets Permit Extended
A Virginia biodiesel plant that says it needs a little more time to line up the finances to complete its construction has gotten help from a local city council. This story in the Virginian-Pilot says the Tidewater Biodiesel LLC plant in Deep Creek got a six-month extension on the original permission. The council initially granted permission for the project in …
Expiring Biodiesel Tax Credit Pushed Up Profit
The race to take advantage of the expiring federal biodiesel tax credit helped push up profits for the green fuel. Last week, we told you about the University of Illinois analysis on the profitability of ethanol. Well, the analysts from the school are back, and this time they’ve looked into the factors over the past few years that have helped …
Research Looks Into Water-Free Biodiesel Brewing
Efforts to make biodiesel production even more sustainable might get a boost from research into a water-free method of making the green fuel. This story from Biofuels Journal says researchers at the University of Porto in Portugal are looking at a way to eliminate the water normally used water to remove impurities to meet stringent quality standards. Instead of water, …
Biodiesel Bites Back… with a Gator CHOMP!
We’ve told you before about how researchers found a way to turn alligator fat into biodiesel. But this article in Biodiesel Magazine says new findings show a method using a supercritical methanol to make the scaly-sourced biodiesel even more efficiently. Researchers reported on a novel method this week at the 247th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, to produce …
German Biodiesel Sales Have Big Drop
Sales of German biodiesel dropped dramatically last year. Germany’s Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP), an association that advocates for oil and protein crops in that country, says 300,000 fewer tonnes of biodiesel were produced in 2013, down from the previous five-year average of 2.5 million tonnes to just 2.2 million tonnes. UFOP has determined that the actual …
Celebrating Biodiesel Day Advocating for Green Fuel
While yesterday was National Biodiesel Day, our friends at the National Biodiesel Board were not just cutting birthday cake. They were advocating on Capitol Hill for the green fuel. March 18th marks the 156th birthday of Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the engine that bears his name and a man who wanted it to run on peanut oil, not petroleum. …