German airline Lufthansa is looking to start flying some of their jets on a mix of biofuel within the next couple of years. This story from Reuters says it’s a move to save money and cut greenhouse gas emissions: Lufthansa rival KLM, part of Franco-Dutch Air France, last year became the first airline to test biofuel in a passenger airplane, …
Biofuels Digest Names Top Twitterati
Biofuels Digest has named the top 20 “biofuels observers who are shaping opinion via Twitter.” Some of the top names in the industry are on this list that Biofuels Digest calls “the leading practitioners of the art – the Twitterati that are shaping the biofuels landscape with their bursts of 140-character or less messages – sometimes as many as 50 …
ND to Hold Ethanol Workshop
The workshop is one of many that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is leading to inform industry, public and private fleet personnel, government employees, fuel retailers and providers, vehicle manufacturers and students on biodiesel, ethanol, natural gas, propane, fuel economy and idle reduction. The workshops are part of the Clean Transportation Education Project (CTEP) — a 2 year initiative …
President: Rebuild Economy Through Renewable Fuels
Today President Obama made his first visit to an ethanol plant since taking office. His message focused on achieving the American dream and rebuilding the economy with renewable fuels playing a key role. Here are some excerpts from his prepared remarks (Word doc). He didn’t stick to it completely but you can listen to his recorded remarks below. I’ve also …
UNICA: Stop High Tariffs on Clean Technologies
The ethanol tariff debate continues as today, Marcos Jink, President and CEO of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) told World Trade Organization’s Director-General, Pascal Lamy, during a presentation that, “It makes no sense for countries to adopt ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while continuing to apply high tariffs on clean technologies that can be instrumental to …
Dyadic Resolves Lawsuit
Biotech firm Dyadic International announced today an agreement to resolve a class action lawsuit initially filed in October 2007. The litigation, Miller v. Dyadic International, Inc. et al, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, asserted class action claims under federal securities laws based on allegations of misstatements and omissions by Dyadic and certain …
USDA Invites Public Comment on Renewable Energy Programs
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is inviting public comment on several proposed rules designed to increase the production of advanced biofuels and the development of biorefineries that were authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill. “We view these proposed rules as part of the strategy to help meet President Obama’s goal to accelerate the commercial production of advanced biofuels and create a …
USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program Successful
According to Jonathan Coppess, USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator, biomass producers, energy facilities and communities are benefiting from USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). Through April 2, 2010, USDA has approved 4,605 agreements for the delivery of more than 4.18 million tons of biomass and paid eligible biomass owners $165,274,695 in matching payments under BCAP’s first phase. BCAP was established …
Biofuels Benchmarking Annual Report Released
Today, Christianson & Associates, PLLP (C&A) has released a new in-depth report that looks into ethanol plant efficiency and financial viability. The Biofuels Benchmarking Annual Report is in its 7th year and analyzed the operational and financial performance of more than 50 ethanol plants along five major “bench” areas: overall ethanol industry analysis, regional ethanol plant analysis, production capacity analysis, …
‘Heavy Oil’ Working Group to Launch
Big Oil baffles me. They are running full-scale ad campaigns touting their work in developing alternative energy sources, (you couldn’t miss them if you watched the Winter Olympics) and then they turn around and file a suit against the EPA for the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard. They claim it is “unlawful and unfair.” Well, today, according to an article in …