Earlier this month, the EPA finally released its new Renewable Fuels Standard, better known as RFS2. It was just in time as both the biodiesel and ethanol industries held their national conferences just days after the announcement, prompting multiple sessions at each gathering to discuss the implications of the new rules. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we …
Tucson to Open Area’s First Large-Scale Biodiesel Plant
Tucson, Arizona will soon get the area’s first large-scale biodiesel plant. Inside Tucson Business reports EDG Fuels, a division of Environmental Development Group, will open the refinery next month using used cooking oil as the feedstock: EDG Fuels anticipates production to be about 3 million gallons of biodiesel the first year, with a potential of doubling to 6 million gallons …
Car Parts Makers Want Biodiesel Tested for Metals
The makers of automobile parts, also known as the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) community, as well as emission controls firms want to know how much metal is in biodiesel. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been able to improve detection of sodium and potassium … two elements that can compromise catalysts and diesel particulate …
Report: Global Biodiesel Market Worth $12.6 Bil by 2014
A new market research report says that the biodiesel market will be worth $12.6 billion by the year 2014. This press release says the MarketsandMakets report, entitled ‘Global Biodiesel Market (2009 – 2014)’, says the markets in Europe and the Americas will make up nearly 85 percent of that total, with 55.6 percent and 28.6 percent respectively: Increasing environmental concerns …
US Military: Just Months Until Affordable Algae-Biodiesel
One of the biggest knocks on algae-based biodiesel is the high cost for the truly green fuel. But the U.S. military says it is just months away from making biodiesel from algae for the same cost as its petroleum-based counterpart. The UK’s Guardian reports that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency … better known as DARPA …. which helped develop …
VW Picks Drivers for Biodiesel-fueled Races
Twenty-five drivers, including 16 new ones, have been chosen for the third season of Volkswagen’s 2010 Jetta TDI® Cup, an SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned event that features young drivers (16 to 26 years old) driving practically identical VWs running on a 5 percent biodiesel blend. This VW press release says the racing begins in April: “Our third year for the Jetta …
Renewable Petroleum Co. to Produce Biodiesel in Fla.
While most of the renewable energy news coming out of Florida this week is about ethanol with the National Ethanol Conference going on in Orlando, a California renewable petroleum company has announced it will be making biodiesel in the Sunshine State. Biomass Magazine reports that LS9 will retrofit an existing fermentation facility in Okeechobee to make its UltraClean Diesel and …
UNL Begins Expansion for Algae Research
Algae research continues to get a lot of focus. University of Nebraska-Lincoln has announced that it will expand its algae research center this year, dedicating more space in the Beadle Center greenhouse for the work. As reported by Biomass Magazine, the university received $1.9 million in federal funding for it current research in alternative energy and is anticipating additional funds. …
Free Biodiesel Music
In case you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of the music of Emily Richards and Jason Brock since I first met them at a National Biodiesel Conference years ago. The photo is from one of the screens that was displaying them during their time on stage at the conference. Emily announced that she and Jason have been working on …
More Thoughts On RFS-2
With RFS-2 being such an important topic to anyone in the industry right now I conducted another interview on the subject with Larry Schafer, The Diamond Group. Larry moderated one of the panel discussions on the subject at the National Biodiesel Conference. He says that the EPA has published the regulatory rules on line and there are a number of …