Minnesota On Target to Meet Biodiesel Mandate Goals
Earlier this week, we told you how Washington state was going to fall short on its goal using 20 percent biofuels in all state vehicles. But there’s better news from the Midwest. According to the Redwood Falls (MN) Gazette, Minnesota is on target of meeting its own lofty goal of having all diesel sold in the state to be a …
Vegawatt Generator Turns Grease Directly Into Power
A six-foot tall box behind a restaurant in Massachusetts is a solution to two problems: what to do with leftover cooking oil and how to power the fryers that produce all that grease in the first place. This article from Popular Science says the Vegawatt Power System that turns used cooking oil into an energy source for Finz restaurant in …
School to Run Buses on Cooking Grease Biodiesel
Instead of bringing an apple for teacher, students in Montgomery, Alabama schools will be encouraged to bring in used cooking oil that the city’s public schools will turn into biodiesel to run their school buses. The Montgomery Advertiser reports it’s part of a new initiative where the school has partnered with Alabama State University and the Alabama Department of Agriculture …
Biodiesel Board Posts Fire Safety Tips
A spectacular fire over the weekend at the Minnesota Soybean Processors (MnSP) biodiesel plant in Brewster, Minnesota (no, that’s not a picture of the fire on the left… that’s from a NBB training video) has prompted the National Biodiesel Board to offer those in the industry and local fire officials of some tips on how to handle the rare fires …
PetroAlgae Opens DC Office
President Obama has put the emphasis on renewable energy, and the buzz in the nation’s capitol… and the country… has been about turning algae into biodiesel. To that end, PetroAlgae is opening a Washington, DC office and has sent three of its best folks there to work closer with the Obama Administration, Congress, non-profit groups, and the business community: The …
Florida Biodiesel Plant Set to Go On Line
The first biodiesel plant in Southwest Florida could soon go on line… although some of its first fuel will be sold a loss. The Fort Meyers News-Press reports that a site for FL BioFuels LLC’s three-million-gallon-a-year plant should be picked in the next couple of weeks, and one of its first customers will get a substantial discount on the fuel …
No Serious Injuries in Minnesota Biodiesel Plant Fire
People in the Southwest Minnesota town of Brewster are back in their homes after a spectacular weekend fire at a nearby biodiesel forced their evacuation. This story from KSFY-TV in nearby Sioux Falls, SD has more details about the Minnesota Soybean Processors Plant fire (and some pretty cool video if you click on the picture to the left): The fire …
Warm Spring Puts Oregon Biodiesel Plant Back On Line
The SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel plant… the largest biodiesel plant in Oregon… is opening back up for business a month after it had laid off some of its workforce. This story in the Salem (OR) Statesman Journal says warmer weather is helping move more biodiesel in the state: SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel in Salem was built to produce 5.8 million gallons of …
ASA: New EPA Rules Undermine Biodiesel Industry
Members of the American Soybean Association (ASA) were back on Capitol Hill… this time testifying before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade that the new proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules are undermining investor confidence in the biodiesel industry. Biodiesel Magazine reports that the ASA complained the EPA rules, which excludes soy-based biodiesel from the fuels counted …