The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is pleased with the preliminary Indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) values presented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) at a workshop on Tuesday. “We applaud the Air Resources Board for recognizing the need to reduce carbon from transportation and fossil fuels to mitigate climate change,” said Don Scott, National Biodiesel Board Director of Sustainability, …
CARB Stresses ILUC Update is Preliminary
California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff spent four hours on Tuesday afternoon detailing reviews made of Indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) models and analysis for the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), strongly stressing that their results are preliminary. “This is a work in progress,” said Air Resources Engineer Anil Prabhu as he began his power point presentation detailing the …
Better Sites for Algae Helps Biofuels Production
A new process for identifying and evaluating algae production facilities could help with biofuels production. The article, “Siting Algae Cultivation Facilities for Biofuel Production in the United States: Trade-Offs between Growth Rate, Site Constructability, Water Availability, and Infrastructure,” in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, talks about the new method developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sapphire Energy …
Hawaiian Biodiesel Pioneer to Give Energy Lecture
A pioneer in the biodiesel industry in Hawaii will talk about energy at a lecture in Kona next week. This article from BigIslandNow.com says Kelly King, vice president and co-founder of Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, will speak next Wednesday, March 19 at the NELHA Gateway Visitor Center in Keahole. King, the company’s director of marketing and communications, has helped develop 13 …
Biodiesel, Ethanol Educator Wins Ag Teaching Award
A high school chemistry teacher is honored, in part, for his work to teach his students about biodiesel. This article from The Grower says Gustavo Junco, an advanced-placement chemistry teacher at West Broward High School in Pembroke Pines in south Florida, taught his class how to power a go-kart with biodiesel made from corn and sunflower seed oil and picked …
Genscape Brings Integrity to Biodiesel RINs
Confidence in the identification numbers for the government’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is key to the growth in biodiesel. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says the National Biodiesel Board-backed Genscape RIN (Renewable Identification Number) Integrity Network is helping keep up the confidence that those record-breaking biodiesel production numbers are legit. Genscape provides U.S. EPA preregistered [quality assurance plans] QAP services …
Iowa Farmers Oppose RFS Changes
A vast majority of Iowa farmers in a recent poll oppose changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Agri-Pulse Farm Opinion Poll, launched last month in partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association, found that 92% of farmers polled oppose the Environmental Protection Agency proposal to lower of the amount of corn-based ethanol and biodiesel required to be blended in …
Low Profile Biodiesel or Natural Gas Semi to Hit Road
It’s a pretty cool looking design (although I’m not sure how my friends in the trucking industry would take to being inches from the roadway). And what makes it even cooler is the fact that a new concept semi from Walmart would be able to run on alternative fuels, including biodiesel or natural gas. This blog post from the company …
Fuel Made from Shopping Bags Fits with Biodiesel
Fuel made from plastic shopping bags could cut down on the amount of waste going into landfills and be a good fit to mix with biodiesel. This story from the University of Illinois says researchers at the school have found a way to turn the abundant litter into fuel. The conversion produces significantly more energy than it requires and results …
California to Consider Updating ILUC for Biofuels
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) is holding two public workshops regarding the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) this week – one to discuss general updates to the LCFS regulation, and the second to discuss updates to the indirect land use change (iLUC) values. Stakeholder feedback is being solicited for both workshops. The board will discuss a proposal to update …