Palm Beach County in Florida is the latest municipality to switch its bus fleet to cleaner-burning biodiesel. Palm Tran, with its 9-10 million riders a year, will switch its 115 buses to biodiesel in a few months. This story in the Palm Beach Daily News says it will be green in two ways: for the environment and for the county’s …
100 MPG BioBike Racing Across Australia
The BioBike – a 100-mile-per-gallon, biodiesel-powered motorcycle – is racing 3,000 km (1,800 miles) across Australia. The BioBike, designed by a group of seven Mechanical Engineering students from the University of Adelaide in South Australia, is in the race from Darwin to Adelaide in the Greenfleet Technology Class for environmentally-friendly engines. This story on the gizmag.com web site says the …
VeraSun Wants Double Duty for Corn
Ethanol producer VeraSun is considering sinking $30 million into a process that would allow the company to also get biodiesel out of its ethanol production. This story in the Des Moines Register says VeraSun might make changes to a north Iowa plant to extract corn oil from dried distillers grain — an ethanol byproduct — and make that oil into …
Imperium to Provide Biodiesel for Hawaiian Electric
Seattle-based Imperium Renewables has inked an exclusive deal with Hawaiian Electric Company, which provides 95 percent of electricity for residents of the islands, to provide biodiesel for some of the utility’s generators. This post from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has more details: The contract, which runs through 2011, calls for Imperium to supply between five million and 12 million gallons of …
The Future of Environmentalism
A student from the University of California-Berkeley is one of six North Americans to win the 2007 Brower Youth Award, recognizing her efforts to boost environmental sustainability at the school. A Cal press release says 21-year-old Rachel Barge, a junior majoring in conservation and resource studies, has spearheaded the school’s Green Initiative Fund, financing clean energy and transportation to include …
Automakers, Biodiesel Producers Want Better Standards and Sources
Officials from Chrysler and the NextDiesel refinery in Adrian, Michigan are calling for better standards for biodiesel and more oily feedstocks to make the green fuel. This story from the Adrian (MI) Daily Telegram says the officials discussed the issue during a tour of the plant this week: Right now NextDiesel, which started production in August at its facility on …
Green Energy Could Hit $1 trillion by 2030
A report from a major financial institution says the economic future of wind, solar, geothermal power, and biofuels looks very bright. This story from the GroovyGreen.com web site has more details: U.S. Bank Morgan Stanley has estimated that global sales from clean energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal power and biofuels could grow to as much as $1 …
BioDiesel Powers Tracy Lyons ‘Mercury Rising Tour’
It seems even entertainers can’t escape the momentum behind the growing renewable and alternative energy movement. Singer-songwriter Tracy Lyons is launching her ‘Mercury Rising Tour,’ a tour that will highlight alternative and clean energy technologies. Her tour will also operate on biodiesel. Singer-songwriter, veteran environmental activist and National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) advocate Tracy Lyons launches her 2007-2008 Mercury Rising …
Nation’s Biggest Biodiesel Plant Moving Forward
By a 7-2 vote, the Chesapeake, Virginia city council has given the green light to what will be the nation’s largest biodiesel plant. This story in the Virginian-Pilot says council members found the proposal to build Smiling Earth’s 320 million gallon refinery to be a lot less dangerous than the jet fuel and gasoline tanks already around the 30 homes …
Study Shows World’s Biodiesel Production Potential
A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison looks at the potential for biodiesel production worldwide and identifies some of the countries that could become big players in the future of biodiesel. This article on the Science Daily web site says the study ranked 226 countries according to their potential to make large volumes of biodiesel at low cost. While many …