Two years ago, a biodiesel-powered motorcycle made a 3,000 km (1,800 miles) trip across Australia(see my post from Oct. 22, 2007). Now, the folks in charge of the BioBike will up the ante as former oil driller Paul Carter will make a 20,000 km (12,000 miles) journey around the land of down under. This University of Adelaide press release has …
Studying New Feedstocks for Biofuels
The “World’s Largest Urban Farm and Research Test Facility” is studying a wide variety of new feedstocks that hold promise for future sources of both ethanol and biodiesel. Agricenter International recently offered a closer look at the new crops being grown there by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation AgBioworks program and BioDimensions, Inc. Among the crops that were planted this season …
EPA Officials Visit Iowa Biofuels Plant
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) hosted officials from the Environmental Protection Agency last week for a tour of agriculture and biofuels in Iowa. Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, and Margo Oge, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, represented EPA on the visit that included the BioCentury Research Farm in Boone, an Iowa …
New Washington Biodiesel Plant Forms Partnership
Earlier this week, I told you how Washington state-based Inland Empire Oilseeds had finished work on its canola-crushing facility to feed its biodiesel operation at the Odessa, Washington plant. Now it looks like the biodiesel brewer has a local utility to help prove the worth of its green fuel. This press release from Avista Corp. says the energy company is …
DF Cast: Biodiesel Makes Engines Roar
On a warm, clear summer evening in Central Missouri, the night air practically thunders to life as 3,000 horsepower of tractor-pulling power is started and modified machines of farm implement heritage rumble down a dirt track. While the behemoths of the National Tractor Pullers Association Midwest Extreme Truck and Tractor Pull are pushed to the limits of what an engine …
New Washington State Biodiesel Plant Comes On Line
A new, eight-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant in Washington state has come on line with the opening of the facility’s canola crusher, joining its biodiesel brewer that began refining last November. This article from the Ritzville Adams County Journal says the Inland Empire Oilseeds plant in Odessa, Washington is a one-stop shop for the green fuel: “With the addition of the crusher, …
Illinois Ups Biodiesel Mandate to 5 Percent
Legislation that increases the amount of biodiesel state and local governments in Illinois must use has been signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn. Biodiesel Magazine reports now the biodiesel blend for use by diesel-powered vehicles owned by the state or local governments when refueling at a bulk central fueling facility moves up from 2 to 5 percent: The Illinois …
Grassley to Host EPA Officials at Iowa Biodiesel Plant
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will play host to a pair of EPA officials at an Iowa biodiesel plant this coming Thursday at 3 pm. Let’s hope he can use the opportunity to teach them the REAL math behind the amount of corn and soybeans it takes to make ethanol and biodiesel. This story from Biodiesel Magazine says Grassley will …
Second Biodiesel Boat to Shuttle Pearl Harbor Visitors
Last April, I told you about how visitors to one of the most sacred places in U.S. history, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were now being shuttled out to the USS Arizona Memorial by a boat that runs on biodiesel. This U.S. Navy press release says a second biodiesel boat, USS Arizona Ferry Boat #39-2, “Samuel G. Fuqua,” is now taking people …
Ford’s B20 Biodiesel-compatible Engine Cheered by NBB
The news that Ford has developed a new diesel engine… code-named Scorpion… to put in its 2011 F-Series Super Duty diesel pickups will be fully compatible with a 20 percent biodiesel blend (B20) (see my post from yesterday) is being welcomed by the National Biodiesel Board: “This is the first of what we expect to be many formal announcements of …