The new Renewable Fuels Standard … aka RFS-2 … is set to be released in just the next few days. That’s why the National Biodiesel Board has extended the regular registration rates, as well as the “buy one, get one (BOGO)” offer to bring a friend for free to the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Feb. 7-10, at the Gaylord …
Concept Bike to Run on Biodiesel
While they haven’t received as much press as their alternatively fueled cousins, motorcycles that run on biodiesel are carving out a bit of a niche. Well, maybe this next design will punch a hole right through everyone’s thinking! This post on Gas 2.0 introduces us what could be the next generation of bad motor scooters: Meet the Metalback motorcycle concept. …
Biodiesel Maker Contends Study Proves Algae’s Worth
A recent study that contends algae-based biodiesel is no more environmentally friendly than conventional row-crop feedstocks has generated some controversy, as well as quite a few comments. And even the algal-biofuel industry seems to be split on the issue. As you might remember from my story last week, University of Virginia researchers have concluded that algae’s environmental footprint is larger …
Biodiesel Goes Underground
It’s not a move to put the green fuel incognito … biodiesel is literally going underground. This article in Biodiesel Magazine says a new, 206-page report from the Mine Safety Health Administration talks about how miners have found that biodiesel keeps clean a precious commodity underground: air: After testing multiple biodiesel blends, MSHA concluded that biodiesel reduces emissions—especially when combined …
Algae Might Not Be as Green as Crops for Biodiesel
We’ve talked a lot about the potential of turning algae into biodiesel, especially how it could be better for the environment than more conventional feedstocks, such as farm crops like soybeans and canola. But researchers at the University of Virginia are casting some doubt on that assumption. This story on Greenbang.com says their new study finds that growing algae for …
Tobacco Tapped for Biodiesel
Researchers at a school in Philadelphia have figured out how to get more oil from a decidedly non-food source: tobacco leaves. Professors from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have found out how to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, and according to this school press release, that might just be the next step in using the …
Culver Makes Case for Biodiesel Incentive in DC
The governor of a state that has a big stake in the biodiesel biz traveled to Washington, DC to make the case for renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive. Iowa Governor Chet Culver testified before a Senate Subcommittee just how important the incentive is to the Iowa biofuels industry, an $8 billion operation supporting about 80,000 jobs: “This …
Timing Key with this Year’s Biodiesel Conference
Outside of location, location, location (for real estate, at least), the three most important words in business might be timing, timing, timing. You get both when you attend the National Biodiesel Conference and Expo, Feb. 7-10 in the Dallas-Forth Worth area (actually Grapevine’s Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center). The NBB points to location, in the 30 biodiesel plants that …
Winter & Double Crops Increase Biofuels Opportunities
I recently wrote about the potential of energy crops for biofuels, but there are many more opportunities including the biofuels value of planting winter crops or double crops. Last week during the AG CONNECT Expo, I spoke with Dr. Tom Richard, associate professor with Pennsylvania State University, who discussed the opportunities for biofuels and agriculture through the planting and harvesting …
How to Create Effective Biofuels Public Policy
One of the biggest challenges for our country lies in the issue of how to create effective public policies that will grow the biofuels industry and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Dr. Antonio Bento, associate professor in the Applied Economics and Management Program at Cornell University, has been researching exactly how to do this and he shared his results …