VeraSun Energy has broken ground on a new Oil Extraction Facility in Aurora, South Dakota. The new facility will use technology that enables the large ethanol producer to generate two renewable fuels from one kernel of corn. VeraSun Energy Corporation, one of the nation’s largest ethanol producers, today announced that it began work on an oil extraction facility at its …
Biodiesel Plants Employing Modular Designs
In a world of tight margins, biodiesel producers are looking for an edge that will help them maintain their profitability. That edge might come in the form of modular designs for their refineries. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says a compact modular plant design using proven techniques can improve biodiesel plant economics and help the construction or expansion process, while …
Mexico Turns Sights Toward Biodiesel
Mexico, a big producer of petroleum, could be getting into the biodiesel business. This story from Reuters says a new biofuel law that kicks in next year will encourage the production of biodiesel from crops like beets, yucca root, and sorghum, possibly solving some of the food-versus-fuel debate Mexico has been going through: “Mexico could develop biodiesel faster than ethanol,” …
Biodiesel is Topic of Scholarship Contest
The American Lung Association of Minnesota has teamed up with the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association to offer a scholarship to a senior who writes the best essay on biodiesel. This press release from the ALA of Minnesota says high school seniors are welcometo participate: Current Minnesota high school seniors with plans to attend postsecondary education are eligible and encouraged to …
Chicken Fat Biodiesel Research
Arkansas, home to the Tyson chicken empire, could be the home to a new feedstock for biodiesel… chicken fat. This story from UPI says researchers in that state are looking at ways to perfect the chicken fat-to-biodiesel process: Chemical engineers at the University of Arkansas were successful in using so-called supercritical methanol to transform chicken fat and tall oil fatty …
Biodiesel Boat Using Captain’s Fat
The Earthrace, a biodiesel-powered boat out of New Zealand, will be making another attempt to set the world record for circumnavigation of the globe. Earlier this year, the Earthrace had to abandon a record-setting try (see my May 31st post). But according to this story on FoxNews.com, the captain believes he’s got the bugs worked out since then, and he’s …
NBB Praises Leaders for Signing of Energy Bill
President Bush’s signing of H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, has gained the praise of the National Biodiesel Board. Joe Jobe, President of the NBB issued this statement: “The U.S. biodiesel industry praises President Bush, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and the bipartisan supporters of biofuels in Congress who worked tirelessly to enact an expanded Renewable …
Energy Bill Signed
President George W. Bush today signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and ushered in a new era in the way America produces and uses energy. Bush says the new law is “a major step toward reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country …
Study: Biodiesel Performs Similarly to Diesel
A two-year-long study is showing that biodiesel is as good as regular diesel for over-the-road trucks. The “2 Million Mile Haul”… halfway through the study at this point… is looking at the benefits of using 20 percent biodiesel blend (B20) and is being conducted by the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) in partnership with Iowa Central Community College, Decker Truck Line …
Biodiesel Producer Hit with Another Lawsuit
The developer of what will be the world’s biggest biodiesel plant… if it gets built… has been hit with another lawsuit, the second one this year. Smiling Earth Energy has plans to build a 320-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. But the company has had its troubles recently, including a lawsuit by an Oregon biodiesel company for …