A big issue in the current Renewable Fuels Standard … as well as the new RFS2 under consideration by the EPA … is the Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we listen in on the conversation from the recent 2nd Annual RINWorld Summit held in Dallas, TX where the EPA’s John Wienrauch, Office of …
DF Cast: Turning Garbage into Ethanol
It’s like the scene in Back to the Future II, where the crazy old professor stuffs garbage into his flux capacitor in the back of the DeLorean and flies off to the future (or is that the past?). California-based BlueFire Ethanol Fuels has developed a process called Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology that expands the amount of feedstocks that can be …
DF Cast: Study Shows Biodiesel’s Energy Balance
Last week, we told you new research shows how green biodiesel is. I finally got a chance to catch up with National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe to talk a little bit about this important study… and what it will mean as the Environmental Protection Agency considers a new Renewable Fuels Standard, RFS-2. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel …
DF Cast: Mixing Ethanol and (Bio) Diesel
You can’t burn ethanol in a diesel engine. Nope. Just not done. Like mixing oil and water. But what if you added more water to the ethanol? And came up with a way to mix the hydrated-ethanol blend with the diesel… or better yet, biodiesel… right at the point of ignition? Ahhh… then you’d have something that National Corn Growers …
DF Cast: RFA, NBB Submit RFS-2 Comments
Back in May, the EPA put out its proposal for the new Renewable Fuels Standard… aka RFS-2… that got a lot of people talking about what is in the new standard. Some of the biggest backers of some of the greenest fuels, ethanol and biodiesel, are worried RFS-2 will actually keep these mainstays of the renewables out of the program …
DF Cast: The Past and Future of Biodiesel Feedstocks
Algae is all the rage as the next great feedstock for biodiesel… although the longtime champion for the green fuel, soybeans, might not be ready to give up its crown to the green pond scum. One the one hand, you have guys like Riggs Eckelberry, the CEO of Origin Oil… a company that develops technology to turn algae into oil …
DF Cast: Biodiesel Makes Engines Roar
On a warm, clear summer evening in Central Missouri, the night air practically thunders to life as 3,000 horsepower of tractor-pulling power is started and modified machines of farm implement heritage rumble down a dirt track. While the behemoths of the National Tractor Pullers Association Midwest Extreme Truck and Tractor Pull are pushed to the limits of what an engine …
DF Cast: ACE Explores Indirect Land Use Issue
The recent American Coalition for Ethanol’s 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show in Milwaukee saw an exploration of an issue that remains a hot issue in the biofuels biz: Indirect Land Use. The concept that the growth of some biofuels feedstocks in the United States, especially corn and soybeans, could cause the cutting down of the rain forests in other …
DF Cast: Pure Energy Goes on the Air
There’s a new radio show in town… and its focus is something near and dear to the hearts of many of you who read this blog. On this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast we’ll talk to Sean O’Hanlon, Executive Director of the American Biofuels Council and host of “Pure Energy,” a new radio show on Miami’s 880 AM WZAB, …
Webinar Features Talk on Algae for Fuels & Chemicals
Last time, we told you about how researchers are working on ways of making algae into a viable feedstock for Midwest biodiesel production. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we continue the conversation on algae and it’s potential as a fuel… and the chemical by-products and processes it can bring to the table. During the recent 2009 World …