One hundred years after the original 1908 event designed to show the world how dependable automobiles could be, the 2008 Great Race will feature vehicles running on alternative fuels, such as biodiesel, ethanol, and even solar power. This story from the Los Angeles Times says the alternatively-powered vehicles will also join some classic roadsters on the 22,000 mile New York …
Self-refining Biodiesel SUV Stops in Seattle
This is one of the most unique things I’ve seen in just more than a year of blogging for Domestic Fuel: a sports utility vehicle (SUV) that has its own biodiesel refinery in the back! This story from the Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer says that Japanese sports journalist Shusei Yamada and the Biodiesel Adventure Team have started a quest to drive …
Penn State’s Venture into Biodiesel Proving Effective
Officials at Penn State University say there has been no negative effects on tractors that they moved up to running on 100 percent biodiesel. The school started running its tractors on B20 in 2002 and more recently began testing three New Holland tractors (out of the 100 the school uses) on the B100. This story by the college’s newspaper, The …
AZ Bill Would Help Pay for Adding Biofuels
A bill introduced in the Arizona legislature would help pay the costs of gas stations adding biofuels to their lineups. The Tucson Citizen reports HB 2620, offered by Arizona House majority leader Tom Boone (R-Peoria), will help stations meet the growing numbers of vehicles that can run the green fuels: “We need to make sure Arizonans have cleaner fuel choices …
Homegrown Mustard Biodiesel in Monterey-Salinas Buses
Buses in the Monterey-Salinas, California area could soon be running on biodiesel made from mustard seeds. And what makes this idea even more intriguing is that the transit authority itself will be growing the alternative to the more conventional feedstocks, such as soybeans. This story in the Salinas (CA) Californian says Monterey-Salinas Transit could be helping quell some of the …
Green is Universal
Universal Studios theme park in Orlando was in the spotlight during the National Biodiesel Conference last week for its biodiesel use, but they are using ethanol as well – and that will be highlighted during the National Ethanol Conference coming up later this month. Robert Winslow, Universal Senior Director Engineering and Environmental Sustainability Technical Services, gave a behind the scenes …
PECO Going Green
PECO, an electric and natural gas utility serving 1.6 million electric and 480,000 natural gas customers in the southeastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphia area, is now running all of its 580 trucks on biodiesel. This company press release says the move adds to the 43 hybrid SUVs and seven natural gas powered vehicles the utility is already using. In addition, PECO …
Additional Feedstocks Among Points of Biodiesel 2020
The second edition of Biodiesel 2020: A Global Market Survey has come out, filled with information on which direction the biodiesel industry is headed. This story posted on EarthTimes.org says the biodiesel industry is entering four fundamental transitions: moving from edible feedstocks (soy and palm oils) to non-food feedstocks; moving from production in developed countries’ commercial markets to emerging markets …
Global Biofuels Policy Effects
Biofuels from an international perspective was on the agenda at the World Ag Expo in California this week. International seminars on Tuesday included “The World of Biofuels” and “The California-Brazil Connection: Ethanol, Biodiesel, Electricity and Beyond.” One of the panelists for the second seminar was Rahul Iyer of Primafuel, who spoke on international biofuel policy trends and the many opportunities …
Montgomery, AL Turns Cooking Oils Into Biodiesel
Last fall, Alabama Agriculture & Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks and Montgomery, Alabama Mayor Bobby Bright announced a partnership that would make used cooking grease into biodiesel to be run in the city’s vehicles. This week, they cut the ribbon on the new Center for Alternative Fuels Biodiesel Production facility. This Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries press release has more …