If it were up to the Iowa renewable fuels industry, Newt Gingrich would probably be elected the next president of the United States. The former speaker of the U.S. House spoke to a full house at the 5th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Hitting all the right notes, Gingrich was interrupted several times by applause …
Enervation Advisors Aquires Tri-City Energy Biodiesel
Enervation Advisors, an Axis Group Company, has acquired Tri-City Energy biodiesel and glycerin facilities in Keokuk, Iowa. The company is currently staffing the biodiesel plant, that has been shut down, and has already begun a retrofit. Enervation anticipates that the plant will begin producing glycerin by March of this year. This is the first acquisition into the renewables market for …
Biodiesel Brewed Up for Future Chefs
Students at California’s Culinary Institute of America are learning their ways around the kitchen. And if they’re paying attention to the biodiesel being used in their rides to school, they’re also getting a lesson in sustainability. Biodiesel Magazine reports the school’s Greystone campus in the Napa Valley is using waste vegetable oil from the kitchens to turn into biodiesel (produced …
Endicott Biofuels to Build Texas Biodiesel Plant
Houston, Texas-based Endicott Biofuels has inked a deal with KMTEX Ltd. to build a 30-million gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in Port Arthur, Texas. This Endicott press release says the refinery will use the company’s proprietary technology, and construction is to begin later this month: “Our extensive specialty chemical processing capabilities in Port Arthur are well-suited to complement Endicott’s unique production of …
Bacteria Turns Biodiesel By-product Into Butanol
Researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have found a strain of bacteria that could turn glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, into another alternative fuel … butanol. This story from the school’s news website says the research is being done by a graduate student with funding from the National Science Foundation: Disposing of glycerol has been a problem …
Biofuels Key to US Winning Alt Fuel Race with China
As Chinese President Hu Jintao wraps up his visit to the United States, a new report details how America can use biofuels to compete in the alternative energy field for vehicles. This article on CNET.com says the Accenture report, entitled “The US and China: The Race to Disruptive Transport Technologies,” says the Chinese have a decided edge in government commitment …
Adminstration Offers Boost for Advanced Biofuels
In addition to loan guarantees for biorefineries in the southeast, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) announced other steps today designed to give the advanced biofuels industry a much-needed boost. “With the renewable fuels standard goal, there’s going to be a need for additional biofuels and it must be met in large part by advanced biofuels,” said …
USDA Announces Funding for Biorefinery Projects
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $405 million in guarantee loans for three biorefinery projects in the southeast under the Biorefinery Assistance Program. The three projects are located in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. “We believe it’s critical and crucial to develop a biofuel industry powered by feedstocks produced in every corner of the country,” said Vilsack during a conference call …
Biodiesel Helps Melt the Snow in Minneapolis
From what I’m hearing from my friends back up north, it’s been a particularly tough winter, especially in Minneapolis, where snowfall has been plentiful this year. Remember the collapse of the Metrodome? (By the way, to my friends shivering their way through another below-zero, snowy night, a balmy 70 degrees in south Texas today). But Corn & Soybean Digest reports …
Biodiesel Conference Registration Extended
Recognizing just how important the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo is to everyone with ties to the industry, our friends at the National Biodiesel Board have extended the deadline to register for the Feb. 6-9 event in Phoenix, Arizona to Feb. 1. NBB CEO Joe Jobe says: The uncertainty surrounding the biodiesel tax credit and the implementation of the Renewable …