When I traveled to Jay Leno’s Garage recently the EcoJet was still being worked on and we couldn’t take pictures of it. Now it’s out on tour and the latest stop is the CMA Music Festival at the New Holland tent. Jay has a New Holland Boomer tractor to pull cars around in his garage and it runs on a …
On the Road in Jenny Owen Youngs’ Biodiesel Van
Singer Jenny Owen Youngs, known for her music on the Showtime series Weeds, is incorporating some green (different kind of green in this case) in the van she’s using to tour the country. This article from HARP Magazine features Youngs: On her current tour, Jenny Owen Youngs will be tooling around in a biodiesel van. She got the idea from …
Portland Mandates Biodiesel
Starting next month, all diesel sold in Portland, Oregon will have to have at least a five percent biodiesel content. And according to this story on eTrucker.com, the City Council has made the standard even higher for city vehicles: City-owned diesel vehicles must use fuel with a biodiesel content of more than 20 percent. The rule also mandates that all …
Michigan’s BIG Program Installing Biofuels Pumps
That’s the Biofuels Infrastructure Grant Program that gets federal money to help gas station owners/operators install E-85 and B20 (or higher percentage) pumps to encourage the Earth-friendly fuels. The latest was a station the Quick Sav Food Store in Swartz Creek. That station got about $8,400 to put in the new pumps… one of six stations in Michigan that received …
FFA Making Biodiesel
This week I’m attending the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, TN to do some work with New Holland and Michael Peterson. The activities culminate for us with the 2nd annual Michael Peterson/New Holland Tractor Race. You can learn more about it on Agwired. While here though I ran into a story I thought you might be interested in. Pictured here …
Incoming British PM Pushes Biodiesel
The man expected to replace British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for more tax incentives for the production of biodiesel. According to this story on the Scotsman.com, to make his point, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown made a recent trip on Europe’s first biodiesel-powered train with Sir Richard Branson, the chairman of Virgin: The pair travelled on a …
Brew Your Own Biodiesel for $.85 a Gallon
No, its not some ad in the back of a kids magazine. There’s plenty of people across the country who are brewing up their own biodiesel… not just the big plants you normally hear about. This story on YourHub.com talks about how many people are using (usually) free old cooking oil from restaurants. But the article points out you can’t …
$8 Million in Energy Grants
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy have jointly selected 11 biobased fuels research projects to receive $8.3 million in funding grants. According to a USDA release, the projects will include “looking into new ways to develop cordgrass, rice and switchgrass in renewable energy sources.” Grant recipients include: * University of Minnesota, $715,000 * South Dakota State University, $420,000 * …
Imperium, Solazyme Ink Biodiesel Deal
Biodiesel giant Imperium Renewable and algae-to-oil producer Solazyme, Inc. have reached a deal that will have Solazyme producing oil from microbes it developed and providing the oil to Imperium to make into biodiesel. From a company press release: Harrison Dillon, Solazyme’s Chief Executive Officer commented: “Imperium has publicly expressed interest in the opportunity for algal derived biodiesel for some time …
Americans Get EU Perspective on Biofuels
Several American journalists are touring Europe, courtesy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a program that promotes cooperation between the United States and Europe on domestic and international trade policies. From this post on FarmPolicy.com, Missy Shelton Belote of KSMU-FM, Springfield, Missouri’s public radio station; Todd Gleason, from the University of Illinois and WILL AM-580 public radio; …