Propel builds, owns and operates a growing network of clean fueling points. The Rocklin facility is the first of theirs to offer E85 but the group has six additional sites that offer biodiesel. Seven fueling sites will open soon and will carry biofuels in the cities of Citrus Heights, Sacramento, Elk Grove, Roseville and Placerville. The group’s goal is to …
Crumbling Infrastructure Hurting Rural Ethanol & Biodiesel Industries
Rural America’s infrastructure challenges cut to the heart of the six challenges outlined during this morning’s session of the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Summit being held in Washington, D.C. As you might have read on my earlier post over on AgWired.com, this morning, Farm Foundation Pres. Neil Conklin outlined the six major areas of challenges facing agriculture over …
ADM: We Can Have it All… Food & Fuel
The world’s population will grow by 33 percent by the year 2040, but the amount of farmland to feed and fuel that growing demand won’t have to grow by that same one-third… that’s what attendees at the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. heard this morning. Greg Webb from Archer Daniels Midland gave that optimistic assessment …
Biodiesel Board Blasts Biofuel Plantations Report
The National Biodiesel Board is taking exception with a report that seems to equate unsustainable practices to produce biodiesel in some parts of the world with what American biodiesel producers are doing In a statement from Manning Feraci, Vice President of Federal Affairs at the NBB, the group takes aim at the report titled, “Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double …
Biofuels Key Part of Conversation at Farm Foundation Meeting
It was a pretty amazing event today at the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. today. Seven former Secretaries of Agriculture (six in-person and one by videotape) debated the future of agriculture in America, especially what the immediate future would hold for the next person to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A big part of …
MN Extends Biodiesel Grants Deadline
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has extended its deadline to apply for grants to help the state’s biodiesel industry. This press release from the department says the new deadline is Friday, December 12, 2008: A total of $300,000 in funds is available to the owners of facilities that supply petroleum products to customers who sell, use, or transport fuel in …
State & Federal Money Help MO Biodiesel Startups
The construction industry might be struggling a bit these days, but biodiesel plants are still being built… with some help from federal and state programs that are backing the capital to get these startups going. As an example, a Missouri-based biodiesel maker has received some help to get their proposed biodiesel plant and soybean crushing facility off the ground. This …
Lower Oil Prices Make Biodiesel Producers Struggle
Rising oil prices were a boon to biodiesel producers this summer, as near-$150/barrel prices for crude oil made it more and more profitable to produce biodiesel from a variety of feedstocks. However, with that same barrel of oil now costing less than $50, margins have tightened up for makers of the green fuel. This story in the Tampa (FL) Tribune …
Solar, Biodiesel RV a Teaching Tool
You might remember my story from October 8th, 2007 about Ty Adams and his biodiesel-powered RV, the bioTrekker, Adams is a man who likes to travel the country, preaching the gospel of alternative fuels. Now, he’s rolling on the roads in the SolTrekker, which also runs on biodiesel but, in addition, is outfitted with solar panels and made even more …
USDA Researching Pennycress’ Biodiesel Potential
Many people know pennycress as nothing more than a weed, but some folks with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are looking at its potential to become a biodiesel feedstock. This article from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service says scientists at the ARS’ Peoria, Illinois office are trying to make the farmers’ pest into their cash crop: There, a team of …