NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace is now an “Honorary Iowan”. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad gave him this honor due to his work in highlighting the importance of ethanol and E15. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series both use E15. “Iowa is one of the largest producers of ethanol. All the NASCAR cars are …
Solar Takes Lead in Renewable Energy Growth
According to the latest issue of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) “Electric Power Monthly,” renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) increased by 12.8 percent last year compared to 2011 and provided 5.4 percent of net U.S. electrical generation. Solar increased by 138.9 percent while wind grew 16.6 pecent, geothermal by 9.6 percent, and biomass (i.e., wood, wood-derived fuels, …
D.C. Fly-in Just Around the Corner
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is gearing up to meet with nearly 100 of our country’s legislators during its annual Biofuels Beltway Fly-in being held in Washington, D.C. March 13-14, 2013. To date, ACE has requested meetings with 100 Senate offices and key House members. As ACE Executive Director Brian Jennings noted to DF early this month, a signification …
History of Renewable Fuels in Iowa
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has released an online version of an industry scrapbook that illustrates how far the renewable fuels industry has come and how profound its impact on Iowa has been over the past decade. “Progress and Prosperity: A Look Into Iowa’s Renewable Fuels Industry,” provides anecdotes and fact-based information on the vast accomplishments and benefits of …
EPA Approves New Biofuel Pathways Under RFS
Camelina, energy cane and renewable gasoline are now added to the list of qualifying feedstocks and fuels approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for use under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). EPA released its final rule to identify additional fuel pathways that meet the “lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction requirements for biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and cellulosic biofuel” under the …
Gas Prices Up, Up and Away
As gas prices have been on the rise for more than 32 days, Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says that AAA might want to reconsider its recent attacks on ethanol. He writes in a post titled, “As Prices at the Pump Go Up, Up, Up American Ethanol is the Motorist’s Friend,” that through Memorial …
State-by-State Ethanol Update
The Renewable Fuels Association has released a state-by-state update to the “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States,” an economic impact analysis performed by Cardno ENTRIX. The original report, released earlier this month at RFA’s National Ethanol Conference, found that the industry has supported over 383,000 direct and indirect and induced jobs across all sectors …
TRANSCAER Honors RFA’s Missy Ruff
Missy Ruff, Market Development Manager with Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), was recognized by the TRANSCAER Executive Committee for a 2012 TRANSCAER Individual Recognition for her successful efforts to plan, organize and implement TRANSCAER training dedicated to safe handling of ethanol and awareness response training for emergency responders across the U.S. More specifically, the award is given to an individual or …
How High Will Gas Prices Go? Seriously, How High?
Ugh! I filled up my “economical” car today with gas for the low price of $41! It would have cost even more but I used ethanol, which in Iowa saves me nearly 10 cents a gallon. What I find so amazing is that we’re supposed to have so much oil, yet strangely despite a “surplus,” gas prices keep getting higher …
Plant Breakthrough May Improve Biofuel Processing
There may be a connection between two different types of cell wall glycans (sugars) and specific wall protein known as arabinogalactan protein. The initial discovery was made by Li Tan, who then approached researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA to continue the research. According to Tan and Debra Mohnen, who both work at part of the BioEnergy Science Center, …