Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group Inc. has signed a deal with three Midwest biodiesel plants to consolidate under the REG name. Biodiesel Magazine reports that Western Iowa Energy with a 30 MGY refinery in Wall Lake, Iowa; Central Iowa Energy’s 30 MGY Newton, Iowa facility; and the Danville, Illinois Blackhawk Biofuels, LLC, a 45 MGY facility in Danville, Ill., are part …
More MN State Vehicles Fueled With Ethanol
Minnesota state fleet vehicles are using more E85 than ever, according to a new quarterly report from the Minnesota SmartFleet Committee, a group tasked with helping to reduce the state’s use of petroleum fuels in favor of cleaner-burning fuels such as E85 and biodiesel. In the first quarter of 2009, more than 12 percent of the total fuel used by …
Encore Energy Buying Up More Biofuels Plants
Earlier this year, I told you how Encore Energy was targeting troubled biodiesel plants… ones producing below their capacity… for acquisition (see my post from March 16, 2009). This company press release says that Encore is now making that happen in five biofuels facilities with its new business development partner, Hardin Fuels: Four production facilities are located in Mississippi with …
Bacon Fat Biodiesel Station Opens in WI
A green fuel that also gives you the intoxicating aroma of bacon as you drive? It’s as if half of Homer Simpson’s brain had been implanted into Al Gore! A small, startup company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin has opened its first biodiesel station with the feedstock being the pork fat left over from making pre-cooked bacon. This story from the Manitowoc …
Soybean Growers Fight Back on EPA Rules
As I posted before, the debate over the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS-2) continues to rankle the folks who grow the biggest feedstock for biodiesel: soybeans. The crux of the problem is that the under the new rules, biodiesel made from soybeans has been deemed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 22 …
Biofuels Part of World Ag Forum in St. Louis
Just got word today that I’m headed to St. Louis next week to help cover the World Agricultural Forum’s Sixth Biennial World Congress, “Our Global Priority: Food Security—Financial, Trade and Technical Services,” for ZimmComm New Media, mostly on our sister Web site, AgWired.com. For Domestic Fuel followers, there is plenty going on at the forum, especially in the sustainability field: …
Algae Project at Iowa Ethanol Plant Closer to Reality
An ethanol plant in Southwest Iowa is closer to being able to produce algae, most likely to turn into biodiesel. This press release from Green Plains Renewable Energy says the company and BioProcessAlgae LLC, a joint venture between Green Plains, CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE: CLC), BioProcessH2O LLC and NTR plc., have executed a grant award agreement with the Iowa Office of …
RFS Rules: Bad for Some Biodiesel, Good for Others
The new, proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules for the Renewable Fuels Standard has the biofuels community split over if they will be good for the green fuels. The point of contention has to do with the impact Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) will have on biofuel production. Under the new rules, biodiesel made from soybeans has been deemed to reduce …
Chocolate to Fuel Biodiesel Race Car
Back in November, 2007, I told you about a truck that was running from London, England to Timbuktu in Africa on chocolate-based biodiesel (see my post from Nov. 27, 2007). While that trip was built for endurance, the latest effort in the chocolate-biodiesel world is made for speed. This story from TG Daily says researchers at the University of Warwick …
New EPA Rules Could Be Bad News for Biodiesel
While the new Environmental Protection Agency rules regarding the Renewable Fuels Standard have been welcomed by some renewable fuel advocates (see Cindy’s post from earlier today), the news is not as bright for backers of biodiesel. According to this story in the Des Moines (IA) Register, biodiesel made from soybeans… very popular in the Midwest… won’t meet the new requirements …