The city of Cary, North Carolina has changed its fleet of diesel vehicles to biodiesel. The city runs about 3.5 million miles a year, and now those miles will be greener. This story in the Cary (NC) News says 169 diesel vehicles are now running on B20 biodiesel: “It’s purely trying to reduce our dependency on oil,” (Mike Bajorek, the …
Farm Bureau: Renewable Energy Big in ’07
Among the stories seen as significant to the American Farm Bureau in 2007, renewable energy ranked right up there with the new Farm Bill and issues with migrant workers in the fruit and vegetable crop fields. And this column from Farm Bureau says ethanol and biodiesel will be in the headlines for years to come: Energy products including ethanol-blended fuels …
Nova Opens Up IL Plant for Forum, Tour
Houston-based Nova Biosource is opening up its biodiesel plant at Seneca, Illinois for a financial analyst and institutional investor forum as well as a tour of the new facility on Friday, January 25th, 2008. The new facility will be mechanically complete right after the start of the new year and substantially completed this summer. Check out this drawing of the …
Brazil Putting in Biodiesel Mandate
The new year will mark a new requirement for all diesel fuel sold in Brazil: it must contain at least two percent biodiesel. Brazil is already a world leader in ethanol production, and this article from The Canadian Press says the new requirement will help grow the biodiesel industry in the country as well: “The great advantage is for the …
NBB: Biodiesel at Less than 25% Production Capacity
The National Biodiesel Board says the U.S. is not making near what it could be when it comes to biodiesel. This story on Wisconsin Ag Connection says high soybean oil prices are keeping America from producing an NBB-projected amount of 1.85 billion gallons a year… but that could soon change: Soybean oil prices in the mid- to high 40-cent range …
$600 System Helping Farmers Produce Fuel & Feed
Some farmers in Canada are having trouble getting biodiesel to run their farm equipment, so they’re trying to make their own. According to this story in the Owen Sound (Canada) Sun Times, a group of farmers got a $10,000 grant and they were able to make do-it-yourself biodiesel refineries for about $600 each, which they recently demonstrated in their home …
Blue Sky Joins Ranks of Biodiesel Makers
Oakland, California-based Blue Sky Bio-Fuels, Inc. has sent out its first shipment of biodiesel. This story from the East Bay Business Times says the biodiesel is going to fuel school buses in the area: Blue Sky, an 18-month-old Oakland company that manufactures biofuel from waste restaurant kitchen grease, formed a partnership with the city of San Francisco’s Greasecycle program to …
Tobias Out as Imperium Chief
In a bit of a surprise over the weekend (sorry, just now catching up from the Christmas holiday), Martin Tobias is out as chairman and CEO of Imperium Renewables… replaced by company co-founder John Plaza as CEO and Nancy Floyd as chairman. This story on C|Net News Green Tech Blog says tight times for the biodiesel industry might have prompted …
Tennessee DOT Giving Grants to Promote Biofuels
Tennessee’s Department of Transportation plans to hand out $1 million in grants to help promote biodiesel and ethanol at gas pumps along the interstates in Tennessee. This story in the Chattanooga (TN) Times Free Press says one of the first Green Island Corridor grants is going to a station in Cleveland in the southeast part of the state: Tom Robertson, …
Measuring Up the Candidates
So you say you haven’t heard enough from the 16 candidates running for President? There’s just not been enough media coverage for your tastes? OK, so maybe you think you’ve heard enough about the crowd (especially if you’re living in Iowa or New Hampshire), but you do need some information to make an informed decision, right? Especially when it comes …