Following up on a story I told you about yesterday, the Chesapeake, Virginia Planning Commission has voted 7-0 to in support of building a 320-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant. This story in the Virginian-Pilot says the advisory vote will be taken into consideration by the Chesapeake City Council next month when a final decision is made on the half-billion-dollar project. The commissioners …
Minnesota Looks to Go to 20% Biodiesel
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has announced a new initiative to move his state from using two percent to 20 percent biodiesel by 2015. The announcement comes on the heels of yesterday’s word he wants Minnesota to use 20 percent ethanol by 2012 (see Chuck’s post from August 8th). According to HometownSource.com, Pawlenty will bring the proposal before the state legislature …
Vermont Gets First Biodiesel Plant
The Green Mountain State has taken its first step to being a green fuel state as Vermont gets its first biodiesel mixing plant. This story on the WPTZ-TV (Plattsburgh, NY) web site says it opened at the Robinson Oil Terminal at Essex Junction, Vermont: The Robinson Oil Terminal makes biodiesel by mixing traditional home heating oil with vegetable oil. The …
Chesapeake Biodiesel Mega-plant to go to Commissioners’ Vote
A proposed $532-million, 320-million-gallon biodiesel refinery… one of the world’s largest… is up for a vote before the Chesapeake, Virginia Planning Commission tonight to decide if the project will move forward. But this story in the Virginian-Pilot says even if the commission approves the plan, there are issues over the developer securing the land: Developer Smiling Earth Energy LLC and …
Joe Jobe On Video At Jay Leno’s Garage.com
Hello from the American Coalition for Ethanol convention in St. Paul, MN. Before I get into some ethanol coverage though I’ve got a biodiesel story for you. You might remember that I went out to Burbank earlier this year with Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board and Gene Hemphill, New Holland to visit Jay Leno’s Garage. While we were there Jay …
Cruise Line Buys Biodiesel
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has agreed to buy 15 million gallons of biodiesel this year… and another 18 million gallons a year for the next four years… to run some of its cruise ships from Seattle-based biodiesel giant Imperium Renewables. This story in the Seattle Times says Royal Caribbean has four ships based out of the Pacific Northwest port: “We …
80 MGPY Indiana Biodiesel Plant Ready to Break Ground
Indiana Clean Energy, LLC is getting ready to break ground on a $90 million, 80-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in the next couple of months (see the artist’s rendering). The project is the first biodiesel plant for the Frankfort, IN-based company and comes nearly two years after the company was founded. This story on the WTHR-TV web site says it came down …
Cleaner Air in the Windy City
The 20th annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference and trade show is underway in St. Paul, MN. The event officially kicked off Tuesday after the golf tournament with a presentation by the CityHome O2 Diesel progran on how the ethanol industry can make positive headlines in our nation’s third largest city – Chicago. After proven success in several communities, CityHome™ …
Canadian Company Joins Biodiesel Quality Assurance Program
Canadian Bioenergy becomes the first company in Canada to become BQ-9000 qualified… a voluntary fuel quality assurance program, adopted by the National Biodiesel Board and the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. This release from the National Biodiesel Board praises the Western Canada biodiesel distributor’s achievement: “Quality is everything — it’s always been our top priority and the BQ-9000 process was a …
Udall Bus Tour Wrapping Up
The Udall Legacy Biodiesel Bus Tour is wrapping up its 54-day, 8,606-mile, 26-cities, six-national-parks, six-Native-American-communities, cross-country tour. As you might remember from my posts in June, the biodiesel-fueled journey promotes environmental and Native American issues. This story in the Tuscon (Arizona) Citizen says the trip wraps up Saturday in Southern Arizona, the home of the congressman for which the tour …